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STORIES OF MISSOURI 



BY / 



/ 

JOHN R. MUSICK 

AUTHOR OF "THE COLUMBIAN HISTORICAL NOVELS' 




iMq- c\ 



NEW YORK •:• CINCINNATI-:- CHICAGO 
AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY 
" i897 



I 






NX 



PR EFACE. 



The early inhabitants oi Missouri were a peculiar 
people. First oi .ill were the Indians, When they 
settled there, no one knows. Next came the French, 
then the Spaniards, and lastly the Americans. The 
last named were mostly from Kentucky, Tennessee, 
.mil Yii ginia. 

Nearly .ill t lu* American settlers in Missouri were 
the descendants oi pioneers who had grown accustomed 
to the trying scenes oi forest life. They were a rigidly 
honesl people. No locks were «>n their doors, and they 
had no need oi .1 11 y 

As they were dependent on each other for protection, 
what belonged to one was freely loaned to his neighbor. 
It .1 pioneei wanted to borrow his neighbor's ax, and 
did not find the man .11 home, he took the ax without 
asking, and returned it when done with it. 

rhe early Missourians were rude and uncultured, but 
unselfish and brave. Stories of them, and of the people 
who preceded and followed them, are both entertaining 
and instructive. They serve to explain many curious 
names, customs, m\(\ laws, which to a person unfamiliar 
with the people must remain a mystery. 

5 



In the preparation of these stories, the author received 
valuable aid from the following persons : Dr. Willis P. 
King, author of " Stories of a Country Doctor " ; Hon- 
orable A. A. Lesueur, Secretary of State for Missouri ; 
Honorable J. A. Wickham, Adjutant General ; Professor 
J. R. Kirk, State Superintendent of Public Schools ; 
Professor J. M. Greenwood of Kansas City; Major 
J. B. Merwin of St. Louis ; and Professor C. E. Ross, 
Secretary of the North Missouri State Normal School. 
Also from Colonel W. F. Switzler's " History of Mis- 
souri." 

Many of these stories have in some form been in 
print before, but there are a number that appear for the 
first time. Care has been taken to select those typical 
of the time, characteristic of the people, and unques- 
tionably true ; also to select such as throw some light 
on the history of Missouri. 

The author trusts that this little volume may stim- 
ulate his young readers to learn more of the great 
State in which they live. They can never become good 
citizens without having some knowledge of their own 
State and the people who founded it. 



CONTENTS. 



i. French and Spanish Period 













FAGE 


I. 


Father Marquette 


9 


II. 


The Explorations of La Salle . 








14 


III. 


The Silver Hunter . 








l 9 


IV. 


The First Settlers . 








24 


V. 


Pierre Laclede, and the Hunter 








3 2 


VI. 


French Missourians . 








39 


VII. 


Attack on St. Louis . 








• 45 


VIII. 


Daniel Boone in Missouri 








53 


IX. 


Maturin Bouvet and the Osages 








59 




2. Territorial Period. 


X. 


Louisiana Purchase ....... 66 


XI. 


The First Schoolmasters . 






72 


XII. 


Early Missourians .... 






78 


XIII. 


Western Boatmen .... 






86 


XIV. 


The Blockhouse at the Big Spring . 






96 


XV. 


The Lewis and Clark Expedition 






101 


XVI. 


Pike in Northeast Missouri 






108 


XVII. 


Captain Cole. — A Plucky Frenchwoman 






112 


XVIII. 


Missouri Rangers .... 






118 


XIX. 


The Captive ..... 






125 


XX. 


Boone's Salt Works .... 






130 


XXI. 


Cooper and Callaway 






136 


XXII. 


The Earthquake at New Madrid 
7 








H3 



XXIII. Missouri Territory 

XXIV. Fanatical Pilgrims 
XXV. The Early Lawyer 



PAGE 
151 
157 
163 



XXVI. 


Thomas H. Benton 






• 171 


XXVII. 


Some Customs and People of the Past 


. 176 


XXVIII. 


The New Capital 




. 183 


XXIX. 


The Big Neck War. — The Platte Purchase 


. 188 


XXX. 


The Mormons 




. 196 


XXXI. 


The Honey War. — Colonel 


Gentry . 


. 208 


XXXII. 


Doniphan and Price . 




. 214 




4. Civil War Period. 




XXXIII. 


Border Trouble . 




• 223 


XXXIV. 


A Season of Doubt 






. 232 


XXXV. 


Camp Jackson 






• 237 


XXXVI. 


A Governor's Flight . 






. 245 


XXXVII. 


A Hero's Death . 






. 250 


<XXVIII. 


War in the North 






• 257 


XXXIX. 


Order Number Eleven 






. 264 


XL. 


End of the War . 






. 272 



5. Present Period. 

XLI. The Ironclad Oath 
XLII. Restoration of Prosperity . 



277 
281 



STORIES OF MISSOURI 



>XK< 



I. 

FATHER MARQUETTE. 

ONE hundred and thirty-two years after De Soto 
discovered the Mississippi River there lived in 
Canada two great explorers. One was a priest known 
in history as Father Marquette ; the other, a fur trader 
named Robert de La Salle. Canada then belonged to 
France, and these explorers were Frenchmen. 

Three great European powers had at this time planted 
colonies in North America. The English colonies were 
along the Atlantic coast, the Spanish were confined to 
Florida and Mexico, and most of the French settle- 
ments were in Lower Canada. All the great country 
now known as the Mississippi valley was unexplored, 
and no one lived there except wandering tribes of 
Indian savages. 

Marquette and La Salle had heard of the mighty 
river from the Indians, and determined to go into the 
wilderness in search of it. They did not start together, 
and it is doubtful if one knew what the other's intentions 
were, for their paths in life were quite different. 

9 



IO 

The first to reach the Mississippi was the priest. 
Father Marquette was a good man. He did not come 
to the New World to gain riches, fame, or power, as did 
many others. He had heard that there were heathen 
in America who knew not the true God, and his mission 
to the wilderness was to teach them of the Great Being 
who made us. For five years he had been working in 
the region of the Great Lakes, and for the last two 
years his station was at the foot of Lake Michigan. 

The Indians talked very freely with Marquette about 
the great river and wilderness which the white men had 
not yet seen. In this manner they kindled within his 
breast a desire to visit the tribes which lived in that 
country. In the year 1673, with a small party, he set 
out on his remarkable journey. 

One of the men who went with him was a French- 
man named Joliet. This explorer was not a priest, like 
Father Marquette, but an ambitious man. He too was 
eager to see the great river and the vast country it 
drained, but he cared little about converting the Indians 
to Christianity. His object was to extend the territory 
and power of his king. 

Marquette and Joliet embarked on Lake Michigan in 
birch-bark canoes, and made their way up Green Bay 
and Fox River to the watershed between the Missis- 
sippi and the Lakes. Then by crossing a short portage 
they reached the Wisconsin River. The country be- 
tween the Wisconsin and the head waters of the Fox 
was a wild prairie, over which the boatmen were com- 
pelled to carry their light boats on their shoulders. 

Embarking on the bosom of the Wisconsin, the men 



II 



drifted down the stream in their canoes. On June 17, 
1673, they discovered the Mississippi at the mouth of 
the Wisconsin. They then began their voyage down 
the larger stream. From time to time they landed and 
searched for Indians, but for a long time saw no sign of 
any. One day, when they had brought their boats near 
the shore, Joliet pointed to the sandy bank and said, — 

" There are some footprints ! " 

Father Marquette glanced in the direction indicated 
by Joliet's finger, and saw that a path had been made 
up the sloping bank. The priest ordered the boats to 
land, and went on shore. 

"Here is a path leading through the woods," he said. 
" Let us follow it." 

Joliet was a bold man, but for a moment he hesitated. 
The priest, however, knew no fear, and his companion 
was soon induced to accompany him and the interpret- 
ers along the well-beaten path. About six 
miles from the river they came upon an Indian 
village. The savages were surprised at first ; 
but when the interpreters made themselves 
known, they received the travelers very kindly, 
gave them some dried venison, and told them 
much about the country. 

One of the chiefs gave Marquette a calu- 
met. This was a pipe with a stone bowl and 
a stem ornamented with eagle's feathers. It 
was an emblem of peace. He was told that 
he would meet hostile Indians on his way, 
and that if he held up the calumet they would 
not harm him, but treat him as a friend. 




5^ 



12 

Marquette and Joliet were advised, however, not to 
proceed down the river, for below there was a great 
demon which would devour them if they persisted in 
their journey. Despite this warning, they resumed 
their voyage as before. The only demons that they 
found were some strange paintings on a rocky bluff. 

Continuing down the Mississippi, supported by food 
obtained from the Indians along the shore, they reached 
the mouth of the Missouri River, where they landed. 
Unless De Soto or some of his party entered the terri- 
tory of what is now Missouri (which is doubted by 
some), Marquette and his followers were the first white 
men that did so. 

That great, dark stream which flowed into the Missis- 
sippi was called by Father Marquette Pekitanoui (pek- 
i-tan-o-wee), meaning " Muddy Water." The river was 
known as Muddy Water until 171 2, when it was named 
Missouri from a tribe of Indians who inhabited the 
country at its mouth. 

Resuming their voyage, the explorers floated some 
distance below the mouth of the Missouri, and beyond 
the present limits of the State. One day they discov- 
ered a number of Indians armed with clubs and bows 
and arrows, coming toward them in canoes. They saw 
at once that the party was hostile. The little band of 
adventurers were unable to defend themselves against 
so great odds, and their situation was desperate. 

When the Indians had come almost within bowshot, 
Father Marquette rose in his boat and held aloft the 
calumet. That emblem of peace was recognized, and 
the savages finally surrounded the white men as friends. 



i3 

The travelers were then taken to an Indian village, 
where they were kindly entertained as long as they 
wished to stay. Marquette and Joliet gave their hosts 
some presents, which strengthened the bond of friend- 
ship. As they were not prepared to explore the river to 
its mouth, they now turned about and went back to the 
settlements in Canada, having satisfied themselves that 
the great river flowed into the Gulf of Mexico. 

About two years later the priest died while on a 
journey in the wilderness. He had but two companions 
with him at the time. One supported his head, while 
the other held a crucifix before his eyes as long as he 
could see. He was buried in the forest on the shore of 
Lake Michigan. 




>*■ 



II. 

THE EXPLORATIONS OF LA SALLE. 

WHILE Marquette and Joliet were exploring the 
Mississippi, the fur trader, La Salle, was trying 
to raise a force for the same purpose. 

La Salle was a brave, ambitious, and persevering 
man. He was eager to extend the power of France, in 
the hope that by so doing he might increase his own 
riches and honors. The stories told by the Indians 
fired him with a determination to find the great river of 
which he had read in the old Spanish chronicles, and to 
take possession of it in the name of his king. 

The earliest French explorers had a wrong idea of 
the course of the Mississippi River. From what they 
could gather from the natives, they thought that it 
flowed into the Pacific, and that it would thus afford a 
passage to China. Such a passage would have been of 
great advantage to French merchants in trading with 
that country, since it would shorten the distance their 
ships had to sail, by many thousands of miles. 

With a party of his countrymen, La Salle set out 
from Montreal, by way of Lake Ontario, to find the 
Mississippi. His followers did not possess stout hearts 
like his own, and when they had marched a few days 
into the great forest, they began to wish themselves 
safely back in their settlements again. 

14 



i5 

There were many dangers surrounding them. Not 
only was the wily Indian ever ready to slay them, but 
the dense forests abounded in bears, panthers, and 
poisonous reptiles, which were a constant menace to 
their safety. 

" Let us return," they implored La Salle, " or else we 
shall wander so far that we shall be lost in the forest 
and never find our way home again." 

But La Salle thundered back, " I will go on ! " in a 
voice of such determination that his followers knew it 
was useless to try to dissuade him. They thereupon 
held a consultation among themselves, and that night 
they one and all deserted him. 

On waking next morning La Salle found only the 
Indian guide with him. But he was so brave and so 
determined, that with this single companion he pushed 
on through the wilderness until he reached the Ohio 
River. He had gone too far east to strike the Missouri 
or the Mississippi. 

While he was trying to explore the Ohio to its mouth, 
his one remaining companion deserted him. He was 
now alone in an unknown wilderness, and, realizing how 
useless and hopeless it was to attempt to explore that 
vast country unaided, he turned about and wandered 
back to Montreal. 

La Salle did not despair. He went to France, and 
some years later secured aid and authority • from the 
king to explore the great river and take possession of it 
in his name. From the course of the tributaries of the 
stream which he had seen, as well as from the report of 
Marquette, La Salle became convinced that the great 



i6 

Mississippi was not an outlet to China, but flowed into 
the Gulf of Mexico. 

On his return to Canada, in 1678, he secured men 
and supplies, built a ship on the Niagara River, and 
sailed up Lake Erie and Lake Huron to the foot of 
Lake Michigan. Then the ship was sent back, and the 
men made their way southward to the head of the lake 
in canoes. 

In December, 1679, with a party consisting of thirty- 
three men, La Salle embarked in eight canoes on the 
St. Joseph River in Michigan. They sailed up the 
stream a number of miles, then crossed the snow-cov- 
ered plain by a long portage to the source of the Kanka- 
kee River, and then floated down this till they reached 
the Illinois. Here at a point below Peoria Lake they 
went into camp and built a fort. The Illinois Indians, 
because of mistreatment by some French traders, had 
become very hostile, and for some time it seemed as if 
the expedition would be a failure. But La Salle made 
a treaty with them, by which he promised to protect 
them against their enemies. 

It became necessary for La Salle to make a trip from 
his fort on the Illinois to Canada for more supplies, and 
to look after some of his affairs, which were in a very 
confused state. On reaching Montreal, he made a last 
effort to appease his creditors and borrow money for his 
new equipment. He succeeded ; but soon came the 
news that the men left in the fort had deserted him. 
Undismayed, he once more gathered a band of followers 
and set out for the Illinois by the same dreary route 
through lake, river, and forest. 



i7 

La Salle's original plan was to build a large vessel 
with which to explore the Mississippi, but he had not 
obtained sufficient money and implements to construct 
such a craft, and the desertion of his men put an end to 
the enterprise. This time, therefore, he decided to make 
the trip down the stream in canoes. 

With twenty Frenchmen and twenty-eight Indians, 
he ascended the Chicago River, crossed a portage, and 




embarked on the Illinois River, in these rude boats. 
It was early in 1682, nine years after the priest Mar- 
quette had discovered the Mississippi and Missouri. 
The weather was very cold, and the men suffered 
much ; but with the determined perseverance so charac- 
teristic of La Salle, they continued their voyage down 
the stream. 

At the mouth of the Illinois, they entered the Missis- 
sippi River ; then, continuing down, they reached the 



STO. OF MO. 



i8 



mouth of the Missouri. Here they landed and rested 
for a short time. Again white men were in what is now 
the State of Missouri. 

La Salle was earnestly warned by the Indians not to 
proceed further down the river, and was told that there 
was a great demon below that would destroy him ; but 
he was not the man to be frightened at such tales. 

With his followers, he explored the Mississippi to its 
very mouth, confirming his opinion that it flowed into 
the Gulf of Mexico. On April 9, 1682, La Salle in a 
formal manner took possession of the whole Mississippi 
valley, in the name of the King of France. 

In honor of Louis XIV., the reigning king, the ex- 
plorer named the new territory Louisiana. What is 
now known as Missouri formed a part of that great 
country, as did all the territory between the Mississippi 
and the Rocky Mountains; and for more than a hundred 
years afterwards this region was called by the name 
Louisiana. 

Five years later, La Salle met his death in the wilder- 
ness of Texas, while leading a small party through that 
country. He became involved in a quarrel with his 
men, and was shot from ambush by one of them, named 
Duhaut. 



III. 

THE SILVER HUNTER. 

ABOUT thirty-five years after La Salle took pos- 
session of Louisiana for France, the region was 
placed under the control of a company of traders and 
speculators, known as the Mississippi Company. New 
Orleans was built and was for a long time the chief 
town in the Mississippi valley ; and gradually trading 
posts and forts, which afterwards became settlements 
and towns, were established farther up the river. Two 
of the most important of these, Kaskaskia and Fort 
Chartres, were in what is now known as Illinois. At 
that time, however, this name was given to a much 
larger region, Missouri itself being included in what 
was called the Illinois District. 

One of the directors of the Mississippi Company was 
Sieur Renault (sometimes spelled Renaud), the son of 
a celebrated iron founder of France. Renault was 
already a rich man, but, being of an adventurous spirit 
and having heard much of the New World, he deter- 
mined to try his fortunes there. It was believed by 
him, and by many others of his time, that there were 
rich gold and silver mines in Missouri. Perhaps this 
belief was founded on the traditions of the Indians. 

In 1 719, Renault, with two hundred miners and 

19 



20 

mechanics, sailed from France to America. He stopped 
at Santo Domingo on his way, and purchased a large 
number of slaves for working the mines. Some histo- 
rians say he bought five hundred. 

These slaves were mostly negroes who had been 
brought by the Spaniards from Africa to work in their 
gold and silver mines in Santo Domingo. Renault did 
not linger long on his way, for next year (1720) he was 
at Fort Chartres, on the Illinois side of the Mississippi 
River, about ten miles above the present site of Ste. 
Genevieve, Missouri. 

The wild shores on the Missouri side, with their high 
hills, bluffs, and deep forests, seemed to his imagination 
filled with hidden treasure ; and from Fort Chartres he 
sent frequent expeditions over into what is now Mis- 
souri to explore for silver. 

Not receiving any satisfactory report from his men, 
he himself crossed the river with a party, among whom 
was a man named La Motte, a relative of the acting 
governor of the company. They journeyed far into 
the wilderness, braving many dangers, and digging 
wherever they thought silver might be found. 

One day, while Renault was in advance with a party 
of slaves and prospectors, they were attacked by a large 
brown bear, which charged on them with great fury. 
Renault's companions fled, but he himself remained 
near a tree, and when the ferocious beast was quite 
close, leveled his gun and shot it in the brain. 

Hearing the report of the gun, the men came back 
and found the silver hunter standing over the dead 
bear. 



21 

"You have done a great thing," said one of the 
miners; "you have slain a monster bear." 

"Yes," replied Renault, "but had I depended on 
you, it might have slain me." 

Though the followers of Renault were ashamed of 
their conduct, they had such dread of the forest, that 
they could hardly be persuaded to venture further. 
But they were soon joined by La Motte, who with a 
few miners and slaves had been separated from the 
rest for several days ; and the whole party then con- 
tinued their explorations together. 

They prosecuted their search for silver with great 
diligence. Nearly all of what is now Ste. Genevieve 
County was explored by them. Shafts were sunk and 
mines opened. Lead was found in abundance, but 
practically no silver. Many of Renault's old mines, 
overgrown with trees and covered with moss, have been 
rediscovered by more recent explorers. 

One, the " Mine La Motte," is still operated, and is 
still known by the name its discoverers gave it. It is 
beyond question the oldest mine in Missouri. 

One day some of Renault's miners, who had been 
on a prospecting tour, told him of a wonderful cavern 
they had found. The silver hunter set out with them 
to see it. Reaching a rocky ledge, the prospectors led 
him into the entrance of an immense cave. 

They had with them some pine knots for torches ; 
and, lighting these, they proceeded to explore the won- 
derful place. They first came to a vast underground 
chamber. A succession of passages led from this, and 
in them were millions of pounds of lead ore adhering 



22 



to the sides, roof, and bottom. Not only did the men 
discover lead, but zinc and iron ores also, although these 
were not present in so large quantities as the lead. 

This cavern is to-day known as the " Valle Mines," 
and is among the richest lead-producing mines in Mis- 
souri. It was named for one of the early settlers in 
Ste. Genevieve, of whom we shall hear later. Renault 
and his companions did not attempt to work it, as they 
had other mines more convenient to Fort Chartres. 

Failing to find silver in paying quantities, Renault 
became disheartened. One evening, as he sat by the 
camp fire, lamenting his failure, a companion asked, — 

" Why don't you dig for lead ? You would get more 
silver for it than you will ever find in these rocks and 
hills." 

The idea struck the silver hunter very favorably, and 
he determined at once to act upon it. Next day he 
proceeded to open up two mines, and set his slaves to 
taking out lead ore ; and he also constructed rude fur- 
naces for smelting it. Before long a number of other 
mines were opened and worked quite extensively ; but 
just how many were operated by Sieur Renault and his 
miners is not positively known. 

After the lead had been smelted and separated from 
the dross, it was carried away on pack horses. The 
pack saddle in that day was a very rude affair. It was 
built on a forked stick, placed so that one fork came 
down on each side of the horse. Suspended from this 
were large pockets of leather, which would hold as 
much as the animal could carry. 

When the pack horses were loaded, a whole caravan 



23 



of them was sent in charge of a man or boy along the 
narrow path through the forest to the river opposite 
Fort Chartres. The lead was then taken across the 




river 
in boats, 
while driv- 
er and pack 
horses returned to the 
mines and furnaces for ** '•&*& '\J_ 
more. 

From Fort Chartres the 
lead was sent down the Mis- 
sissippi to New Orleans, and afterwards was conveyed 
to France. Just how much lead was produced in Mis- 
souri in those early days is not known. Some writers 
say the amount was small, some that it was consid- 
erable. 

Renault failed to find silver, but he will ever be re- 
membered as the first man who carried on a productive 
enterprise in Missouri. He opened mines for an ore of 
greater value to mankind than silver. 



IV. 
THE FIRST SETTLERS. 

ABOUT the year 1730, there lived at Fort Chartres, in 
Illinois, two Frenchmen, named Francis and Jean 
Baptiste Valle. These men were brothers, and were 
noted for their honesty, kindness, and bravery. While 
members of the Mississippi Company and others from 
New Orleans and France were searching the rocks and 
hills of Missouri for gold and silver, these brothers and 
some friends were traveling through that country, trad- 
ing with the Indians. 

They gave the Indians blankets, hatchets, beads, trin- 
kets, and other things valued by the savages, and re- 
ceived in exchange various kinds of furs. When they 
traveled on water, they loaded their boats with such 
merchandise as was suitable for their trade, and pad- 
dled along the streams. Sometimes they would be sev- 
eral clays going from one Indian village to another. 
When they arrived at one, either Francis or his brother 
stood up in the boat, holding in one hand a calumet, 
and in the other some article of traffic. These meant 
peace and a desire to trade. Then they would land, 
and transact their business by means of an interpreter 
whom they had with them. 

But they did not always travel by water. Sometimes 

24 



25 

they loaded their goods on pack horses, and went sev- 
eral days' journey into the forests of Missouri, visiting 
far-off tribes. When a large number of valuable furs 
had been collected, they were sent down the river to 
New Orleans, and from there taken in ships to France. 

These early traders were very much pleased with the 
country on the west side of the river, and began to think 
seriously of crossing over and establishing a trading post 
there. The soil was fertile, and the Indians were peace- 
able. A trading post in Missouri, they reasoned, would 
be much more convenient than Fort Chartres. 

Accordingly, about the year 1735, the Valle brothers 
and several of their friends crossed the river with their 
families, and established a post, which in time grew into 
the town of Ste. Genevieve. Its site, however, was three 
miles distant from the present town of the same name. 
The post consisted chiefly of one large blockhouse, in 
which the commandant lived, and which served as the 
common storehouse ; but there were a few smaller 
houses as well. The blockhouse was intended also to 
be a refuge for all the people in case of an attack by 
Indians ; and it was provided with portholes from 
which to fire upon the assailants. 

These were the first settlers in Missouri. Their 
names, so far as known, were as follows : Francis Valle, 
commandant of the post; Jean Baptiste Valle, his 
brother ; Joseph Loiselle, Jean Baptiste Maurice, Fran- 
cis Coleman, Jacques Boyer, Henri Maurice, Parfant 
Dufour, Louis Boidue, B. N. James, and J. B. T. Pratt. 

They were men of simple habits and strong constitu- 
tions, as honest as they were hospitable ; and they 



26 

cheerfully adapted themselves to their circumstances. 
Rich and handsome clothing was unknown to them. 
The men wore homespun trousers, blue woolen shirts, 
moccasins, and a coon-skin cap in summer ; to this in 
winter they added buckskin leggings and a hunting 
shirt made of the skin of some wild animal. 

The clothing of the women was equally simple. A 
dress of calico, a Spanish mantilla thrown over the 
shoulders, and a handkerchief tied carelessly about the 
neck — this was the usual attire of a Missouri lady of 
that day. There was no effort at display. Their 
homes were rude log huts, with chimneys made of 
sticks and mud, though some of the better houses had 
chimneys of stone. Few houses had more than one 
room, with one door and one window. 

Contentment and prosperity blessed these first set- 
tlers. The hardships and privations which they suf- 
fered in common served but to bind them more closely 
together. Disputes and lawsuits were almost unknown, 
and for many years this little settlement formed, as it 
were, one family. On the death of Francis Valle, the 
first commandant, his brother Jean Baptiste was selected 
for that important post. The commandant was the ruler 
of the little colony. He was the judge and governor in 
peace, and the leader in time of war. Jean Baptiste 
Valle was regarded with all the respect of a king, yet 
his rule was more like a father's than a sovereign's. 

The men of the settlement were usually occupied in 
hunting deer and elk, trapping beaver, mink, and otter, 
and trading with the Indians. The rifle furnished much 
of their clothing and most of the food for the family ; 



27 

for wild game of all kinds was found in abundance. 
Half a dozen hides could nearly always have been seen 
tacked up on the outside of the house to dry. But 
hunting, trapping, and trading were not the only indus- 
tries of these first settlers. They early discovered that 
the soil was productive, and began to plant corn and to 
sow wheat. At first they produced only enough to sup- 
ply their own wants, but this was the beginning of the 
great agricultural industry in Missouri. 

Their farming implements were of the simplest kind, 
and were mostly of home make. Their plow, for in- 
stance, was made from a forked tree, cut off near the 
point of branching. One fork was left long enough to 
serve as a pole to which to attach a yoke of oxen, while 
the other fork was cut off about two feet from the trunk, 
and sharpened to pierce the earth. A pair of rude han- 
dles were then fastened to the top, and the plow was 
complete. 

The products of the chase, mines, trapping, and trad- 
ing were sent down the river to New Orleans in barges 
or flatboats constructed by the settlers, who brought 
back in return articles needful for their own comfort 
and for traffic with the Indians. 

The voyages down the river were long and tedious, 
and were attended with great danger. When fathers, 
brothers, and friends departed on these journeys, it was 
months before they returned. Hostile Indians often 
attacked them, and the treacherous stream was filled 
with hidden snags and sand bars, which sometimes 
destroyed their boats. But the bold pioneers of Ste. 
Genevieve braved all these dangers. On reaching 



28 




New Orleans they laid their boats along the levees, 
sought out the French ships which were in the harbor, 
and exchanged their peltries and lead for such articles 
as they needed. 

After the settlers had finished their trading, the 
hardest task of all yet lay before them. Going down 
the stream they usually floated with the 
current, aided by sweeps or large 
. oars ; but the return trip 
K was difficult. A mast was 
/ I sometimes rigged on each 

™3-m boat, and if the wind 

was favorable they 
spread their sails and 
glided on their way 
towards home. Often, 
however, the wind was 
contrary or the river was 
crooked, so that they could 
not use a sail to any ad- 
vantage. Then they were 
compelled to cordelle the boat 
up the stream. The boatmen 
walked along the shore, and by aid 
of a long rope pulled the boat after 
One or two were left on board to steer, 
and keep the prow from running into the bank. In 
this way many a weary day was passed before they 
came to the end of their journey. 

But the life of the first French settlers in Missouri 
was not all toil and hardship. They had various kinds 




them. 



2 9 

of amusements and merrymakings, among which the 
" king's ball " held an important place. It occurred 
once a year and was looked forward to with eagerness 
by both young and old. Every inhabitant of the vil- 
lage was in attendance. One feature of this ball was 
the cutting and eating of a large cake in which had 
been placed four beans. Each person getting a bean 
in his slice was to be one of the " kings " or leaders of 
the next ball. 

Another gathering was known as the "guinolee." 
This was a masked ball which afforded much amuse- 
ment. Among the men, old-fashioned " shooting 
matches" were a favorite sport. These brought about 
a perfection in marksmanship that has never been ex- 
celled, and that was of great advantage to them in 
their forest life. 

History leaves but a brief record of these first set- 
tlers. For over half a century little is known of them. 
In 1785, however, a flood in the Mississippi destroyed 
the old town of Ste. Genevieve, and the settlers then 
moved their homes to the present site. 

Mingled with the early history of Ste. Genevieve are 
a number of legends, among which is the story of an 
Indian maiden whose name is not known. Several 
years after the settlement had been established, there 
came to the village a young French trader named 
Francis Maisonville. While trading with some Indians, 
he met this Indian maiden and loved her. His love was 
returned, and they were married by a priest. For some 
reason the dusky friends of the bride opposed this 
union, and one day, while the husband was absent, her 



30 

brother, with some of his companions, seized her and 
carried her away into the wilderness. 

When the husband returned and found his wife gone, 
he summoned some white friends and set out to over- 
take the Indians and bring her back. But the cunning 
savages waded long distances in streams, walked back- 
wards, and used many other devices to conceal their 
trail and confuse their pursuers as to the course they 
had taken. After days of fruitless search, the white 
men gave up the chase in despair, and returned to 
Ste. Genevieve. 

Meanwhile, the bride had been taken to an Indian 
village about six days' journey from Ste. Genevieve. 
Here she was kept in an Indian wigwam, guarded by 
two aged squaws. One night the old women, worn out 
with watching, fell asleep. A gentle rain was falling, 
as the prisoner knew by the patter on the wigwam. 

Ever watchful for an opportunity to escape, she 
crawled stealthily to the door. She moved as noise- 
lessly as possible, for all depended upon her not arous- 
ing the sleeping women. Her hands and feet were 
tied with strips of deerskin. Holding her wrists out 
under the drip from the wigwam, she soon wet the 
thongs, which were then easily stretched so that she 
slipped her hands out. 

Then she untied her feet, and, after giving the sleep- 
ing women a careful glance, ran out into the darkness 
and rain. She had been gone but a few minutes when 
her guards awoke and gave the alarm. The brother 
hastily summoned his fleetest warriors and started in 
pursuit. 



3i 

For many days the young bride fled through the for- 
est, subsisting on wild berries and fruits. Sometimes 
her brother and his friends were so near that she could 
hear them. One night she crawled into a hollow log to 
rest. She had been there but a few minutes when she 
heard the voices of her brother and his warriors close 
at hand. They built a camp fire near by, and her 
brother sat on the very log in which she was hiding, 
while he and his warriors toasted their venison ; but so 
quiet did she remain that they suspected nothing, and 
at early dawn they departed. When they were gone 
she crept from her hiding place, and resumed her 
journey. 

At last she reached her home. The husband, almost 
broken-hearted, was in the cabin when she entered. 
He was overjoyed to see her, and for fear that her 
relatives might steal her away again, he took her to 
live in the blockhouse, or fort. Her brother and rela- 
tives after a time became reconciled to the marriage, 
and were ever after the steadfast friends of young 
Maisonville. 

The Peoria Indians, who lived in the country around 
Ste. Genevieve, were more industrious than most of the 
aborigines. They were strong and straight, and fine 
specimens of manhood. The women were beautiful, 
and swift on foot. The honesty and fairness with 
which the first settlers treated the Indians, prevented 
misunderstanding and war. Justice was practiced by 
both races, and the colonists long lived by the side of 
the Indians in peace. 



V. 
PIERRE LACLEDE, AND THE HUNTER. 

IN November, 1762, France ceded all the vast country 
then known as Louisiana to Spain. For political 
reasons, this transaction was kept a profound secret, 
and the inhabitants of Upper Louisiana did not know 
of it for several years. The King of France and his 
officers continued to govern the country as before. In 
February, 1763, the king ceded to Great Britain all his 
territory east of the Mississippi, except New Orleans, 
in spite of the fact that he had previously given a por- 
tion of the same country to Spain. This treaty was 
at once made public, and the people of Louisiana soon 
heard all about it. 

Fort Chartres, in Illinois, had up to this time been 
the seat of government and the center of trade for 
Upper Louisiana, or, as it was sometimes called, the 
Illinois District. According to the treaty, this town 
was to be surrendered to the British, and so a new 
location for government and trade had to be selected 
for the territory west of the Mississippi River. 

The colonial treasury was empty, and the govern- 
ment was unable to build a post in the wilderness. 
Therefore it was decided to give some private company 
the exclusive right to trade with the Indians, on condi- 

32 



33 

tion that it should select a site and build the post. This 
monopoly of the fur trade was to extend throughout 
the north and northwest of the territory. The firm 
of Maxent, Laclede & Company received the grant. 
They fitted out an expedition which left New Orleans 
August 3, 1763, and wintered at Fort Chartres. 

The leader of this expedition was the junior member 
of the firm, and is known in history as Pierre Laclede, 
though his full name was Pierre Laclede Ligueste. He 
was a Frenchman, born in Bion, near the base of the 
Pyrenees Mountains. Trained as a merchant, he seems 
to have been possessed of intelligence and foresight, as 
was shown in his selection of the site for the post. 

During the winter of 1763-4, while his men were 
quartered at Fort Chartres, Laclede explored the west 
shore of the Mississippi below the mouth of the Mis- 
souri. He finally chose as the place for his post the 
spot where the city of St. Louis now stands. In Feb- 
ruary, 1764, he sent Auguste Chouteau and a band of 
workmen to make a clearing and to begin building log 
cabins at this place. A number of French families 
crossed over from Fort Chartres, and soon a flourish- 
ing settlement was established. 

Laclede called his new town St. Louis, in honor of 
the King of France ; for it was not yet known even to 
the leaders that this territory had passed under Spanish 
control. He laid it out in regular blocks and streets, 
some of which still bear the names he gave them. His 
store was on Main Street, in front of the place where 
the Merchants' Exchange now stands. 

The firm of Maxent, Laclede & Company, sometimes 

STO. OF MO. — 3 



34 

known as the "Louisiana Fur Company," soon did a 
thriving business. Almost every day the streets of the 
little town were filled with Indians, bringing furs to 
trade for such articles as they wanted. A look into the 
company's store would astonish one accustomed to 
modern shops. One would see rifles, powder, bullets, 




hatchets, knives, blankets, gay-colored handkerchiefs, 
and every trinket calculated to please the savage fancy. 
In the year 1765 Fort Chartres was surrendered by 
the French to the British. Captain Sterling was the 
English officer who took possession of the post. St. 
Ange de Belle Rive, the French commander of Fort 
Chartres upon its surrender, removed with his officers 



35 

and troops to St. Louis on July 17, 1765. From that 
time the new settlement was considered the capital of 
Upper Louisiana. Immediately upon his arrival, St. 
Ange assumed control, though it is doubtful if he had 
any legal authority to do so. 

St. Louis, Ste. Genevieve, and a small settlement at 
New Madrid were the only white settlements at this 
time in what is now Missouri ; but others soon sprang 
up on the fertile banks of the Mississippi and Missouri 
rivers. The mildness of the government, and the liber- 
ality with which land grants were made, in addition 
to the advantages which the trade of the country 
offered, attracted immigration from Canada and Lower 
Louisiana. 

Vide Poche, afterwards called Carondelet, in honor 
of the Baron de Carondelet, was founded by Delor de 
Tregette in 1767. In 1776, Florisant settlement, after- 
wards called St. Ferdinand, in honor of the King of 
Spain, was founded by Beaurosier Dunegant. The vil- 
lage which sprang up about the settlement was subse- 
quently named Florisant, while the township in which 
it is situated is known as St. Ferdinand. These settle- 
ments are all in St. Louis County, and Carondelet is 
to-day a suburb of the city of St. Louis. 

The rich alluvial soil of the valley yielded an abun- 
dance to the settlers. The Indian fur trade became 
extensive, and St. Louis rapidly grew into prominence, 
not only among the French and Spanish, but also 
among the English, who were now gradually coming 
across the Alleghanies into the Ohio valley. 

Among the earliest French settlers in St. Louis was 



36 

a man named Blanchette, a friend of Laclede and 
Chouteau. He loved the forest, and preferred hunting 
to cultivating the soil or trading with the Indians ; so 
he came to be called " Blanchette Chasseur," or Blan- 
chette the Hunter. He would spend days alone in the 
forest with his gun and dogs. On account of rattle- 
snakes and copperheads, which were abundant, he often 
climbed into the branches of a tree to sleep. 

Once, having chased a wounded deer until darkness 
came upon him, he looked about for a tree in which to 
pass the night. A large oak with thick clusters of 
branches and dense foliage seemed to invite him to 
repose in its bushy top. He climbed to the first fork 
and took the most comfortable position he could find. 
Hanging his rifle by a leather strap on a small branch 
at his side, he prepared to sleep. 

His faithful clogs, which had been following the deer, 
returned to their master shortly after he was in his 
strange bed, and set up a tremendous howling. He spoke 
to them and ordered them away, but all to no purpose. 
They remained beneath the tree, barking furiously. 

" Something is wrong," thought the hunter, "or those 
dogs would not act in this way." 

He crept down from the tree, and with his flint and 
steel kindled a fire. As the light ascended into the 
branches, he saw a pair of fiery eyes not ten feet from 
where he had been resting. The hunter raised his rifle, 
took aim, and fired. An enormous panther fell, mor- 
tally wounded. The dogs leaped on it, and though it 
was dying, it succeeded in killing one of them. 

Blanchette was not only a great marksman, but a 



37 



great horseman as well, and many stories are told of 
his skill with horse and rifle. He was once hunting 
with an Indian friend when they started up a fine fat 
buck. The Indian fired and missed. 

" Never mind ; I will get it for you," said Blanchette ; 
and he galloped away after the deer, which was running 
toward the river. When the animal reached the water's 
edge it turned *~ north, whereupon the hunter cut 

















across through the wood to head it off. He came out 
within a hundred paces of it, and horse and deer sped 
along neck and neck. Blanchette dropped the rein, and, 
raising his rifle, brought down the deer at the first shot 
without slackening his speed. He gave it to his Indian 
friend, and an hour later had shot one for himself. 

In 1768, attracted by the abundant game north of the 
Missouri River, he crossed that stream and built a log 
cabin. The advantages for hunting and trapping here 



38 

were so much superior to those south of the river, that 
he induced some friends to join him. In 1769, he 
established the post of Les Petites Cotes. A fort was 
built here, and a settlement sprang up around it, — the 
first in the present State north of the Missouri. The 
name was afterwards changed from Les Petites Cotes 
to St. Charles, which is the name it bears to-day. 

Thus the cities of St. Louis and St. Charles were 
founded. Laclede, the founder of St. Louis, died of a 
fever in June, 1778, while on his way home from New 
Orleans with a fleet of " keel boats." After his death, 
Colonel Auguste Chouteau became the owner of his 
residence. It was enlarged and beautified, and for many 
years was the finest house in St. Louis. 

The fate of Blanchette the Hunter is not positively 
known. Some think he was killed by the Indians, 
while others say that he died of sickness in St. Charles, 
the town which he had founded. 



VI. 

FRENCH MISSOURIANS. 

WHEN Great Britain took possession of the country 
east of the Mississippi, many of the French fami- 
lies living in Illinois moved to Missouri. By doing so, 
they supposed that they were still French subjects, for 
they had not yet heard of the treaty by which Spain 
acquired all of Louisiana west of the great river. 

Although they were too far removed from any nation 
to be much influenced by political changes, they all 
preferred the French rule to any other. 

In their manner of settling the French differed from 
all the other European colonists in America. They 
preferred to gather in compact little villages, instead 
of making their homes on separate and often distant 
farms, as was the custom of the English. The French 
towns were usually to be found on the margin of a 
prairie or the banks of some river. The streets were 
long and narrow, with the dwellings so close together 
that the sociable villagers could converse with their 
neighbors from their windows and doorways. 

Such were the early villages of St. Louis, Ste. Gene- 
vieve, and St. Charles, which for some time were the 
largest settlements in Upper Louisiana. They were 
small patriarchal hamlets, each like one great family 

39 



40 

clustered about a parental home. The houses were 
simple and much alike, being usually one story high, 
and surrounded by sheds or galleries. The walls were 
constructed of rude framework, with upright corner 
posts and studding, connected horizontally by means of 
numerous cross ties, not unlike the rounds of a ladder. 
These held the "cat and clay " (hair or grass and mud) 
with which the intervening spaces were filled, and which 
formed a sort of plastering for the inside surface. Each 
homestead was in a separate lot, inclosed by a rude 
picket fence. 

Nearly every village had a common field consisting of 
hundreds, and often thousands, of acres of uninclosed 
land. This was free to all for use as a common pasture 
and for obtaining fuel and timber. In addition to this, 
each settler had his own field for agriculture. 

The French pioneers in Missouri were generally a 
merry people. One writer says of them, — "Care was 
a stranger in those early days. Amusements, festivals, 
and holidays made the people happy and content, 
though in the wilderness and secluded from the great 
civilized world. While the young and the gay danced, 
the aged patriarch and his companion looked on and 
smiled. Even the priest sanctioned and blessed the 
innocent amusement and recreation." 

Feasting, dancing, and other amusements were not 
confined to either sex nor to any class. In the dance, 
all participated, the bond and the free alike. Even the 
red men and women from the forest often came to share 
in the revelry. 

The Indians regarded the settlers as their friends, 



41 

and trusted them fully. The French policy towards 
them was so fair that Missouri did not suffer from the 
desolating Indian wars which so frequently ravaged the 
English colonies. In the treatment of slaves, also, the 
French were so gentle and kind that a writer of the time 
says, " The world has never seen a more contented and 
happy people than the negro slaves of the early French 
of Upper Louisiana." 

Statute books, lawyers, courts, and prisons were un- 
heard of among these first settlers. Every man ren- 
dered unto every other his just due; consequently 
there was no need of them. Hospitality was a duty, 
and taverns were unknown ; for every man's door was 
open to the traveler and stranger. This social charac- 
teristic is well illustrated by the story of an English- 
man who came down the river in his boat, and landed at 
St. Louis. He approached a house in front of which 
a number of people were gathered, and asked, — 

" Is this a tavern ? " 

" No," was the answer. 

The perplexed traveler pointed to another house and 
asked, — 

"Is that a tavern ? " 

"No." 

" Will you show me one ? " he asked. 

The Englishman was astonished when his informer 
said, — 

"We have none." 

" No tavern ! " he cried. " Then where am I to sleep 
to-night, — in my open boat, or under a tree ? " 

The Frenchman answered, — 



42 



"There are many houses here; why not sleep in one 
of them ? " 

The traveler then saw that the villagers were offering 
him the hospitality of their homes. He was entertained 
that night by Colonel Chouteau. A long war between 
France and Great Britain had just ended, and the 
French in Missouri, though removed from the scenes 
of hostility, had been loyal to the cause of their mother 
country, and bitterly disliked the English. Neverthe- 
less, Colonel Chouteau looked after the comfort of his 
guest, and no unpleasant allusions were made to the 
recent war. The Englishman and Colonel Chouteau 
were ever after fast friends. 

The young men among these early settlers were 
hunters, trappers, and traders, who rivaled each other 
in their long journeys on the streams or in the path- 



less wilder- 
gone from 
trating the 



ness. Sometimes they were 
their homes for months, pene- 
most central parts of Mis- 
souri. When they 
returned from their 
long journeys, laden 
with furs, they were 
greeted with smiling 
faces and the warm- 
est welcome. They 
often had interesting 
stories to tell of their 
wanderings in the forest. 
Once two young men crossed the Mis- 
Vl souri and wandered far into the wilderness. 




43 

When they came back they told of springs of water 
issuing from the ground, so salty that one could not 
drink from them. They were a great resort for deer, 
buffalo, and elk. This place was probably what was 
afterwards known as Boones Lick, which was at one 
time famous for its salt works. 

Often the return of the voyageurs, as these young 
hunters and traders were called, was celebrated by balls 
and festivities. 

" My son has returned from a great journey in the 
forest," the father would say. " Let us give him a 
feast and a ball, and be happy that he is with us 

again." 

Mechanics by profession were almost unknown in 
the settlements of Missouri. The great business of all 
was trading with Indians, caring for flocks and herds, 
and cultivating enough land to supply themselves with 
food. Every man was his own carpenter, shoemaker, 
saddler, and mason. If he wanted a house, he built it. 
It was a rude affair when finished, but it made a com- 
fortable home. The life of these pioneers reminds one 
of Robinson Crusoe, who, like them, had to build his 
own house and to make his own boat and clothes. 

There were no public schools for many years. The 
priests at the forts and trading stations sometimes 
taught the children, Indian and white alike, to read and 
write, and gave them a little knowledge of mathematics. 
These mission schools were the exception, however, 
rather than the rule, and many grew to be women 
and men incapable of reading or writing even their 
own names. 



44 

The early French settlers did not give much thought 
to affairs of state. They believed that France was the 
greatest nation on earth, and trusted to her for pro- 
tection. They cared nothing for fame, any more than 
for the luxuries of life. 

The peace of this happy people was at last broken 
by a rumor that all Louisiana had been ceded to Spain. 
In the hour of doubt and anxiety they appealed to their 
commandant, St. Ange. 

" I know nothing of it," he answered. 

But after a while the rumors were confirmed ; and 
finally a courier came up from New Orleans to say that 
O'Reilly, the Spanish governor, had taken possession 
of the country. The people in Missouri had no thought 
of resisting the Spanish government. If Louisiana had 
really been ceded to Spain, they were willing to abide 
by the result. 

On May 20, 1770, Pedro Piernas, as lieutenant gov- 
ernor of Louisiana, reached St. Louis and superseded 
St. Ange. The change was made quietly, with little 
show or parade. Many regretted that France had 
abandoned them, but all submitted without a murmur. 
In time, all became reconciled to the change, for the 
administration of affairs was mild, and there was little 
cause to complain of the new ruler. 



VII. 
ATTACK ON ST. LOUIS. 

DON PEDRO PIERNAS, the first Spanish lieu- 
tenant governor at St. Louis, was an agreeable 
disappointment. He was a just and kind man, and 
did everything in his power to assure the French 
settlers that their private possessions would not be 
disturbed. 

A strong friendship sprang up between him and St. 
Ange, whom he made a captain of infantry. He ap- 
pointed Martin Duralde, another Frenchman, surveyor 
to establish the boundaries of the land grants made by 
St. Ange, and in- a public manner confirmed them. 

In 1775, Piernas was succeeded by Francisco Cruzat. 
This man also was a mild ruler, and followed the policy 
of his predecessor. He lived in the house which Piernas 
had occupied during his term of office. This house had 
once belonged to Laclede, and was situated at the 
corner of Main and Walnut streets. In 1778, Cruzat 
was succeeded by Don Fernando de Leyba, a drunken, 
avaricious, feeble-minded Spaniard whom no one could 
love or respect. 

For three years a great struggle had been going on 
between Great Britain and her American colonies on 
the Atlantic coast. A war so far away could affect the 

45 



4 6 

people of Missouri but little, and most of them seldom 
gave it a thought. As the Indians of the great North- 
west, however, had taken sides with the British, some 
of the settlers advocated the policy of remaining strictly 
neutral, though the sympathies of all were with the 
colonies. 

The avowed sympathy of Spain for the American 
colonies caused the people of St. Louis some uneasi- 
ness. This was increased when Colonel Rogers Clark, 
the American, captured the British posts at Cahokia,. 
Kaskaskia, and other villages near St. Louis, on the 
east side of the river. The proximity of one combatant 
might bring another. Colonel Clark, however, instead 
of remaining in the vicinity of St. Louis, hastened away 
to capture the British fort at St. Vincent (now Vin- 
cennes, Indiana), and the inhabitants of St. Louis began 
to breathe freely again. 

But Colonel Chouteau argued to his fellow-townsmen 
that Spanish sympathy with the colonies made St. Louis 
an object of British and Indian wrath. This opinion 
was strengthened when rumors reached St. Louis, day 
after day, that large bodies of Englishmen and Indians 
were advancing on the town. The colonel and his 
brother repeatedly called attention to the defenseless 
condition of the place, and at last efforts were made 
to fortify it. 

A wall of logs and clay was built around it, five feet 
high, with three gates. The wall was semicircular in 
form, with the ends terminating at the river. At each 
of the gates cannon were planted and kept in constant 
readiness for use. A small fort was also built on what 



47 

is now Fourth Street, near Walnut ; this was afterward 
used for a prison. 

Months passed, and no foe was seen. Winter came 
and went without any indication of hostilities. Those 
who had doubted the existence of danger began to twit 
the more cautious for their extra care in building the 
fortifications. Even the most apprehensive relaxed 
their vigilance to some extent. Spring came, and to 
all appearances peace reigned west of the Mississippi. 
But in reality the town was soon to be the scene of 
conflict. 

A few years before, a French Canadian named Du- 
charme had been caught trading with Indians in the 
Spanish territory. As this was in violation of the 
Spanish laws, his goods were seized and confiscated. 
Rankling with resentment, he now helped to bring 
about an attack on St. Louis by a body of Ojibways, 
Winnebagoes, Sioux, and other Indians, in all about 
fifteen hundred, under the leadership of a British offi- 
cer from Fort Michilimackinac. Some historians say 
there were also one hundred and fifty English soldiers 
in the hostile force. This numerous band gathered on 
the eastern shore of the river, a little above St. Louis, 
and made arrangements to begin the attack on May 26, 
1780. 

May 25th was the festival of Corpus Christi, which 
was celebrated by the Catholic inhabitants with religious 
ceremonies, feasting, and rejoicing. A number of men, 
women, and children left the inclosure, and scattered 
about over the prairie to pick the wild strawberries 
which grew there in great abundance. 



4 8 

Ducharme, with a part of his Indian force, crossed 
over that day. Spies were sent through the woods to 
reconnoiter, but fortunately no attack was made. The 
commanders of the expedition did not think their force 
on the west side of the river was strong enough to be 
successful. 

On the following morning, just before dawn, the re- 
mainder of the Indians glided across the Mississippi in 
their canoes, and landed in a dense wood, where is now 
located the portion of the city called Bremen. They 
halted long enough to look about and assure them- 
selves that their arrival was unnoticed. Then they 
made their way back of the village, hoping to find some 
of the people at work in the fields. 

Near where the fair grounds are now situated, there 
was a spring which was known as Cardinal Spring. 
Cardinal, the man for whom it was named, and another 
man, called John Baptiste Riviere, were just at this 
time near by it, their rifles with them. Cardinal was 
stooping over for a drink, when Riviere discovered a 
savage creeping through the tall grass among the trees. 

" Indians ! Indians ! " he cried, and fired. 

Cardinal started up and seized his gun, which he had 
laid at his side. Wild yells rose all around him. He 
fired, and both Frenchmen then turned to fly. A storm 
of bullets brought Cardinal bleeding and dying to the 
ground. Riviere, finding escape impossible, surren- 
dered and was taken to the Chicago River; but in time 
he succeeded in gaining his freedom, and returned to 
St. Louis. 

There were others outside the fortification. The 



49 



firing in the direction of Cardinal Spring was the first 
intimation they had of the presence of a foe. As soon 
as they heard it, they started for the fort at the top of 
their speed. It was a race for life. 

The next victim was an old white-haired man. He 
had been in the field at work when the firing at Car- 
dinal Spring was heard. Dropping his hoe, he ran to 
the fence, seized his gun, and started for the fort. 
After passing through a grove of trees, he came upon 
a strip of prairie that lay between him and the fort. 
Several shots were here fired at him, but all missed. 
Half a dozen Indians started to head him off. He 
fired, and for a moment checked them ; but one 
young warrior, running a little nearer to the old man, 
leveled his rifle and shot him down. ,„ ,,„ '~> 







Mr* 






mwmm 




w 



His death was soon avenged. As 
the old man fell, a swift-footed young Frenchman 
with loaded gun was running to his relief. Pausing 
near the body, the young man took aim and shot the 

STO. OF MO. — 4 



50 

Indian dead. Then, turning to the fleeing women and 
children, he cried, — 

" Run for your lives, — fly to the fort ! " Despite the 
whizzing of bullets, he proceeded to reload his gun and 
to cover their flight. Several bullets and arrows struck 
him before the gun was reloaded. He fired once more, 
and then fell dead. 

Both Colonel Auguste Chouteau and his brother 
Pierre were in the town at the time of the attack. 
Knowing that there were many people outside the in- 
closure, they seized their guns and rushed bravely to 
the rescue. On the way, they rallied a dozen more 
armed citizens. When they reached the prairie, a ter- 
rible scene met their eyes. Men, women, and children 
were flying toward the fort, pursued by savages. 

" Charge ! " cried Colonel Chouteau. With a shout, 
his gallant little band of followers dashed forward and 
fired a volley at the pursuing Indians. Three or four 
dropped under their deadly aim, and the others came 
to a halt. This gave an opportunity for the remaining 
fugitives to reach the fort. 

The town of St. Louis was in wild confusion. The 
long-dreaded attack had come at last. Citizens seized 
their guns and rushed to the defense. Colonel Chou- 
teau and his brother Pierre were the heroes of the day. 

"Where are the militia from Ste. Genevieve ? " asked 
some one. This body of troops, under command of 
Captain Silvia Francisco Cartabona, had been sent 
from Ste. Genevieve some time before, to protect the 
town in case of attack. Now they were nowhere to be 
seen. Colonel Chouteau sent his brother Pierre to find 



5i 

them. The latter returned in a few moments and said 
that they were hiding in the houses, and that he was 
unable to bring them to the walls. 

" And where is Governor Leyba ? " asked the colonel. 

" Locked up in his own house, drunk ! " answered 
Pierre. 

" Then we have no leader," cried the colonel. " We 
must defend ourselves." 

" You shall be our leader. We will fight under you," 
shouted the people. They could not have chosen a 
better commander. Auguste Chouteau was brave, be- 
loved, and trusted. He and his brother, with the most 
experienced artillerists, managed the cannon. 

The Indians rallied, and approached the fort. When 
they were within a short distance of it, they opened an 
irregular fire on the gates. From the wall and the tops 
of the houses, the people returned the fire with rifles 
and muskets. 

The artillerists then poured in volleys of grapeshot 
and canister, which swept down the red foes and drove 
them back. This energetic resistance was unexpected. 
The strength of the fort, and the roar of the cannon, 
dismayed the savages. Ducharme was wounded, and 
his Indian allies became discouraged. It was not long 
before they abandoned the attack, and recrossed the 
river. 

About thirty of the inhabitants of St. Louis were 
killed. Most of the slain had fallen on the prairie, 
while trying to reach the fort; many of these were old 
men, women, and children. About thirty more had 
been captured and carried away. A number of these 



52 

were afterward released, and returned to their homes ; 
some, however, were never seen by their friends again. 

The cowardly conduct of the lieutenant governor 
was reported to the authorities at New Orleans, and an 
appeal was made for his removal. Leyba was there- 
fore recalled, and Cartabona acted in his place until the 
arrival of Cruzat, who was again appointed lieutenant 
governor of Upper Louisiana. After Cruzat arrived 
the fortifications were improved, but the town was not 
again attacked. 

In 1788, Cruzat was succeeded by Manuel Perez, as 
commandant general of the post of St. Louis and the 
West Illinois country. In 1793, Perez gave place to 
Zenon Trudeau, who, in 1799, was succeeded by Charles 
Dehault Delassus de Delusiere, a Frenchman who had 
been in the service of Spain many years. This man 
was the last Spanish lieutenant governor. 

In 1799, Delassus, as he is usually called, had a 
census taken of the Upper Louisiana settlements. The 
result was as follows : Ste. Genevieve, 949 ; St. Louis, 
925 ; St. Charles, 875 ; New Madrid, 782 ; New Bour- 
bon, 560; Cape Girardeau, 521; St. Andrew, 393; 
Marius des Liard, 376 ; St. Ferdinand, 276 ; Carondelet, 
184; Meramec, 115; Little Meadows, y2. 



VIII. 

DANIEL BOONE IN MISSOURI. 

ABOUT the year 1797, Daniel Boone, the great 
hunter and Indian fighter, made up his mind to 
leave his home and go to Missouri. There were several 
reasons why the old pioneer decided to take this step, 
but probably the most important one was the loss of his 
land. 

Daniel Boone was a bold pioneer and hunter, but a 
man of scant education. He knew but little of the 
tricks of lawyers, — not enough to protect his own in- 
terests. Taking it for granted that every man was 
honest like himself, he thought that no great knowl- 
edge of law was necessary. He had located and en- 
tered a large tract of land in Kentucky, but through 
carelessness and ignorance of law had failed to get his 
papers properly executed and filed, and consequently 
he lost his possessions. 

It was a sad blow for the old hero, but he bore up 
bravely, as he did under all his afflictions. When he 
found that he must lose his home and land, he decided 
to begin anew west of the Mississippi. 

"Are you going into the wilderness again?" asked 
his wife. 

" Yes, I want more elbow room. They are getting 

53 



54 

settled up too thick about me. I want to go back into 
the forest, where I can once more hunt the buffalo and 
deer." 

" But you are getting too old," she argued. 

" Too old ? bah ! My arm is as steady and my eye 
as true as ever. I'll bring down the game at every 
shot, never fear." 

11 But there is another reason. The country west of 
the Mississippi is owned by Spain. Would you give 
up an English home for a Spanish one?" 

"Our home is where we make it, Rebecca," he 
answered. "We can be good Spanish subjects, as well 
as good Americans." 

Daniel Boone, having spent most of his life on the 
frontier, neither knew nor cared much about political 
affairs. 

Another reason for his deciding to go into Upper 
Louisiana, or Missouri, was an invitation from Delassus, 
who later became the Spanish lieutenant governor, and 
who well knew the worth of such a man as Daniel 
Boone in building up a new country. Delassus was a 
wise, patriotic, and unambitious man. He saw that 
there was a great future for the country over which he 
afterward held control, but he knew that its resources 
could not be developed unless it was first peopled. 
The Anglo-Saxon race had been pouring into the val- 
leys of the Ohio and the Cumberland from the Atlantic 
States. If these emigrants could be induced to come 
west of the Mississippi, the territory might be filled up 
with a desirable class of inhabitants. No man on the 
frontier was more highly respected and better able to 



55 

help in this work than Daniel Boone, and hence Delassus 
was anxious to have him move into Upper Louisiana. 

About the year 1797, the old pioneer went over into 
Missouri and settled in what was known as the Femme 
Osage (Osage Woman) settlement. This was on the Mis- 
souri River in the district of St. Charles, aboul forty- 
five miles west of St. Louis, and about twenty-five miles 
above the town of St. Charles. This portion 
of Missouri was then wild and pictur- 
esque, — just such a country 
as he loved. Herein the 
deep forest, where 
no woodman's ax 

had yet been heard, j j V ''.,-/•■." '\_f" 

he built him a log 
cabin home. 

He was now too 
old to ioin in the ex 



Citing chase, as he had ' W^^ { 

done in his youth, but with 

his trusty rifle he would often stroll 

to the haunts of the deer and elk. Here 







on the bank of some stream he would quietly 
lie, sure of his ^amc when the animals came to drink. 
Soon after his arrival in Missouri, Daniel Boone re- 
nounced his allegiance to the government of the United 
States, and became a Spanish subject. On June 11, 
1800, Delassus appointed him commandant, or syndic, 
of the Femme Osa^e district, a position which he ac- 
cepted. The office was both civil and military. In 
time of peace, he acted as an adjudicator, or judge, over 



56 

the people in his district, and in time of war he was 
their commander. 

The matters on which he had to pass judgment were 
such as required honesty and practical common sense, 
rather than a knowledge of law. He was fearless and 
upright in his decisions. On one occasion, a desperado 
who had been terrorizing the people of the Femme 
Osage district was publicly reprimanded by Boone. 
The man, who prided himself on his power to overawe 
the people, cried out, — 

" If you were not an old man, I should not take that 
from you." 

" You great coward," responded Boone, shaking his 
clenched fist close to the man's face, " if you want to 
get revenge on me for what I said, don't let my gray 
hairs stand in the way. Old as I am, I am young enough 
to whip you." Quite crestfallen, the fellow slunk away 
and was never again heard to say anything against the 
old pioneer. 

There is a story told of one of Boone's decisions, 
which shows his kindness of heart, as well as his 
scrupulous honesty. There lived in his settlement a 
grasping, miserly fellow who had emigrated to Missouri 
from Virginia. This fnan had a claim against a widow 
who was very poor. 

The claim was no doubt a lawful one, but Boone 
thought that under the circumstances the man ought 
not to have pressed it. The widow had but one cow, 
and this the claimant had seized to satisfy his debt. 
When the commandant had heard the testimony on 
both sides, he said, — 



57 

" The widow owes you, Tom Turley ; yet you are a 
scoundrel to take her only cow to pay the debt. The 
law says you shall have it. Take it and go, but never 
look an honest man in the face again." 

Then, turning to the widow, he added, " Let him 
have it; I'll give you a better one." 

He kept his word, for that very day his sons drove a 
fine cow to the home of the widow. 

Though acting as a sort of judge, Boone's ignorance 
of law made him once more a victim of legal technicali- 
ties. The Spanish lieutenant governor, Delassus, had 
in the first place given him a grant of a thousand 
arpents (about 980 acres) of land in the Femme Osage 
district ; and he afterwards received a further grant of 
ten thousand arpents, for bringing into Upper Louisiana 
one hundred families from Virginia and Kentucky. The 
latter transaction was the result of a definite contract ; 
and the people whom Boone induced to immigrate into 
Missouri represented some of the best families of the 
frontier. 

Now, in order to confirm the grants, it was necessary 
to obtain the signature of the direct representative of 
the Spanish crown, who at that time resided in the city 
of New Orleans. As Boone neglected to comply with 
this requirement, his titles to both tracts of land were 
declared invalid ; but after the country became part of 
the United States his first grant was confirmed by an 
act of Congress. This saved to him only a part of 
what was justly his own. 

When all Louisiana was purchased by the United 
States, Boone and his sons again became American 



58 

citizens. Though the old pioneer was well advanced 
in years, he took a lively interest in the affairs of the 
country. He even participated in some of the early 
struggles with the Indians in Missouri. 

The red men feared him, even when his eye had 
grown dim, and his hand feeble with age. It is said 
that a Sac chief was once leading his warriors to attack 
a fort held by the whites, when he learned that Daniel 
Boone was in the fort. He at once stopped his men, 
turned them about, and started back to his own village, 
saying, " It is no use to fight if he is in the fort." 

On March 18, 1813, the brave pioneer's wife died. 
She was buried on the top of a beautiful hill overlooking 
the Missouri River, about one mile southeast of the 
town of Marthasville, in Warren County. Daniel 
Boone was never the same cheerful, happy old man 
after her death. 

On September 26, 1820, Boone himself died, at the 
residence of his son, Major Nathan Boone, on Femme 
Osage Creek, in St. Charles County. He was eighty- 
eight years of age. The house in which he died is still 
standing. It is of stone, and was the first of the kind 
ever built in the State. 

Daniel Boone was buried by the side of his wife, in a 
cherry coffin which he had made himself, and had kept 
ready for several years. In 1845, both he and his wife 
were disinterred and their bodies taken to Frankfort, 
Kentucky, where they were buried with all the honors 
and ceremonies due to a hero. 



IX. 

MATURIN BOUVET AND THE OSAGES. 

DURING the administration of Delassus, there was 
a constant immigration into the villages and settle- 
ments of Upper Louisiana. Not only were a number 
of settlers induced to move from the United States to 
Missouri, but a great many French people came up 
from New Orleans and what is now Louisiana. 

This immigration was attended by a frenzied spirit of 
speculation. Every one was seeking land, which was 
then given by grant, and not by deed as at present. 
These grants required long legal proceedings to make 
them valid, and have been the cause of much litigation 
in the courts. 

It was not a healthy speculation. The men did not 
intend to improve the land, but simply wanted to hold 
it until it increased in value and could be sold • at great 
profit. In some cases a large tract would be secured by 
a single person. A man in St. Charles, named James 
Mackay, obtained a grant for thirty thousand acres ; and 
Francis Sevier received one for eight thousand eight 
hundred acres. 

We can hardly understand at this day why such large 
grants should have been made ; we must remember, 
however, that from the Mississippi to New Mexico the 

59 



6o 

country was one vast wilderness. For this reason, a 
thousand acres seemed to be no more, comparatively, 
than a grain of sand on the ocean beach. To fix the 
exact location of the many grants made, surveys were 
extended a long distance in every direction, although 
the men engaged in them were liable to be attacked by 
roving bands of Indians. 

At this time there lived in St. Charles a Frenchman 
named Maturin Bouvet. He was a noted hunter and 
Indian trader. From one of the young men who had 
been some distance into the upper country, he learned 
that there was a salt spring in the forest, and he went to 
investigate it for himself. He found the water so briny 
that he determined to bring kettles and manufacture 
salt from it. 

The Indians had shown a spirit of unfriendliness for 
several months, and Bouvet was warned not to venture 
so far from the settlements ; but he was a daring man, 
and paid no heed to his advisers. With his kettles and 
a few companions, he embarked upon the river and 
drifted down to the mouth of the Missouri. Then he 
sailed up the Mississippi, and continued on till he 
reached the stream on which the salt spring had been 
discovered. This is supposed to have been one of the 
tributaries of Salt River, in either- Pike or Ralls County. 

When the spring was reached, the men cut some 
poles with their axes, and from them made a rude 
shanty. Its shelter was hardly sufficient to protect them 
from the storms. 

The country about them was wild, with no human in- 
habitant near, unless the wandering bands of Indians 



6i 

could be called inhabitants. At night the wild animals 
came so near to the camp that the men could see the 
fire light reflected in their eyes. One day a party of 
Indians came, but the white men drove them away. 

When they had finished their shanty, they built a fur- 
nace and hung over it their kettles, which they filled 
with water from the salt spring. Then they boiled the 
water until it had all evaporated, and nothing but the 
salt remained. The yield was considerable. 

One day, while the salt makers were away from 
the camp chasing a wounded deer, some Indians 
came to it and stole three blankets and a few other 
articles. 

On discovering his loss, Bouvet was furious. With 
his companions, he pursued the thieves far into the 
woods and across the prairies, but did not overtake 
them. He then went to Delassus, represented that he 
had been robbed, and demanded reparation. The lieu- 
tenant governor, always generous in making land grants, 
gave him "twenty arpents square" for the trifling loss 
he had sustained. On the same day, by the way, 
Delassus made two large grants for distillery purposes, 
and a third to supply the fuel necessary for their use ; 
and the first distillery in St. Louis was built by Auguste 
Chouteau, who received one of these grants. 

The "twenty arpents square" granted to Maturin 
Bouvet were west of Ste. Genevieve. He engaged four 
assistants to help him survey his land. Hostile Osages 
were in the vicinity, and Bouvet was warned to defer 
locating the bounds ; but, as daring as he was avaricious, 
he said, — 



62 

" I'm not afraid of them. They won't come within 
reach of our rifles." 

With his four companions, and all the implements 
necessary to a surveying party, he started out into the 
forest. To protect themselves from the Indians, the 
white men. carried rifles slung over their shoulders, even 
when at work. One day, while running a line across 
a strip of prairie, one of Bouvet's companions looked 
over a small stream, and said, — 

" There they are ! " 

" Indians ! " exclaimed Bouvet. 

A party of a dozen savages could be seen standing 
on a slight elevation, just across the stream. They 
were gazing coolly at the white men, whom they evi- 
dently regarded as intruders. Bouvet and his compan- 
ions dropped their surveying implements, and grasped 
their rifles. The Indians, however, showed no inclina- 
tion to attack them, and after a few moments went 
away into the forest. 

"There! they are gone," said Bouvet. "We shan't 
see any more of them." 

" L on't be deceived ; they'll get reinforcements and 
come back," said one of his companions. 

"Nonsense! they'll never bother us," declared 
Bouvet. 

No doubt the Frenchman had his land grant in mind, 
and feared that the Indians would frighten his men 
away. With the above remark the subject was dropped, 
and the men resumed their work. 

Next morning, while they were still around their 
camp, preparing breakfast, they heard what sounded 



63 

like a turkey in the woods. One of the men, a Ken- 
tuckian named Lewis, seized his gun, and started into 
the dense wood, saying, — 

" I'll be back soon with a fat gobbler." 

The noise he heard was not made by a turkey, but 
by an Indian. By using a bone taken from a turkey's 
wing, the savages could produce a sound so like the 
real call as to deceive a wild turkey itself. Such a 
bone was often used by hunters as a decoy, and was 
known as a "turkey call" or "cowker." 

Lewis had been absent but a few moments when 
those in the camp heard the report of a gun. 

"There, he's got one of them," said one of the sur- 
veyors. 

Two more reports in quick succession puzzled and 
alarmed them. They had just seized their guns, when 
Lewis ran through the camp, his left arm shattered by 
a bullet. 

" Indians ! Indians ! " he shouted. 

Bouvet tried to induce his men to make a stand, but 
they fled without firing a shot. The Indians, a party 
of Osages, came hurrying toward the camp ; and Bou- 
vet shot the first one that came in sight. This caused 
the others to halt. The Frenchman took advantage of 
the delay to reload his gun, and then, seeing that there 
were more than a score of the Osages, he decided to 
escape if he could. 

A few rods to his left was a ravine, and toward 
this he ran. The Indians, discovering his design, fired 
several shots at him. One of their balls wounded 
him in the left leg, but he limped to the ravine and 



6 4 






jumped in. The bed was dry, stony, and covered with 
leaves. 

The Osages, seeing they had but one man to deal 
with, became bolder and pressed forward. They knew 
that the white man was wounded, and counted his cap- 
ture as sure. They opened fire on him. The bullets 
whistled about his ears ; they cut off the twigs and 
leaves of the trees that grew along the sides of the 
ravine, and shattered the bark from the bodies of the 
saplings, but did not touch Bouvet. 

At last he turned and fired at the savages, wounding 
one of them. The Indians, knowing that his gun was 
empty, then ran down the hill and threw 
themselves upon him. He made a desper- 
ate fight for his life, keeping them off 
; for a while with the butt of his rifle 
and with his knife ; but before 
long he was knocked down with 
a club, and made captive. He 
was taken to the Osage vil- 
lage, where he was subjected 
to the most horrible tor- 
tures, and finally 
burned at the stake. 
It was many years 
before his fate was 
known ; but at last 
one of the Indians 
who was present told 
how he was captured 
and put to death. 




Mm 




M^S^ 




<??:' ~ -M 




%t Jl 




W M 


•-N 




! 4' 











65 

This was but one of the many incidents of the kind 
which happened to those who surveyed the land grants 
of Delassus. And this was not the only trouble which 
those grants were destined to cause. Owing to defec- 
tive proof of transfer, indefinite description of the local 
boundaries, and sometimes doubtful or insufficient evi- 
dence of actual occupancy, they were fruitful of long and 
expensive lawsuits, lasting years after Missouri became 
a State. 



, .' £fe* 




X. 

LOUISIANA PURCHASE. '" 

GLANCING carelessly at history, one might think 
that the conduct of France and Spain over Louisi- 
ana was not unlike that of two children with a play- 
thing. France was the big child, and Spain the smaller 
one. In a seeming fit of good humor, France, as has 
been stated, gave Louisiana to Spain in 1762. Then, 
after Spain had had possession for a time, France 
wanted it back, and, being the " biggest," got it: the 
date of this cession was October 1, 1800. 

All this seems at first like child's play ; and, when we 
consider the secrecy with which the transfers were 
made, it is a little mysterious. But there was a deep 
meaning behind it all. There were sound reasons for 
each step, and the transfers are of importance in the 
history of Europe as well as in that of Missouri. 

During the latter part of the eighteenth century and 
first part of the nineteenth, France and England were 
bitter enemies. One might be justified in suspecting 
that the generosity of France to Spain in 1762 was from 
a fear that the British government would seize Louisi- 
ana. The beginning of the nineteenth century showed 
a different state of affairs. England had lost almost all 
her possessions in America except Canada, and some 

66 



6 7 

statesmen thought that France would now be able to 
hold Louisiana. 

Napoleon, the great general of whom we read so 
much, was at this time engaged in a terrible war with 
nearly all Europe. Successful as he had been, there 
were some who doubted that he could continue to be so. 
England was an enemy that Napoleon had not been 
able to injure. For political reasons, many doubted the 
wisdom of getting back the Louisiana territory ; but 
Napoleon insisted, and in 1800 the treaty was signed 
which put it once more under French control. 

Scarcely, however, had France come into possession 
of it, when Napoleon began to fear that the British 
would take it from him. It was too far away for him 
to protect, especially while England remained the 
strongest power on the seas. For this reason, the 
retrocession of Louisiana, as it was called, was kept 
a secret for some time. Indeed, France never formally 
took possession of the territory until after she had sold 
it to the United States. 

The United States government, through its minister, 
Robert R. Livingston, had for some time been trying to 
gain possession of a part of this valuable country. The 
French had once been compelled to part with Louisiana 
to prevent the British from getting it, and Napoleon 
finally concluded that they had better do so again. The 
United States had successfully resisted Great Britain, 
and, after a seven years' war, had gainedjndependence. 
Between the two great English-speaking countries there 
was at that time no real friendship, though they were at 
peace. Napoleon knew of no better purchaser than 



68 

the United States, and the sale was made. The treaty 
was signed in Paris, April 30, 1803, during the first 
administration of Thomas Jefferson. 

" To-day I have given to England a maritime rival 
that will sooner or later humble her pride," said Napo- 
leon, after he had signed the contract which gave all 
Louisiana to the United States. 

" We have lived long, but this is the noblest work 
of our whole lives," said Livingston to Marbois, the 
French representative. " The treaty which we have 
just signed will change vast solitudes into flourishing 
districts. From this day the United States take their 
place among the powers of the first rank." 

It was a great transaction ; an affair of mighty conse- 
quence to Missouri and the whole United States. By 
it our government acquired a vast domain, extending 
from the Gulf of Mexico to the British possessions on 
the north, and from the Mississippi River to the Rocky 
Mountains ; for Louisiana then comprised all the pres- 
ent States of Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, 
Nebraska, South and North Dakota, and Montana; 
Indian Territory ; and parts of Minnesota, Wyoming, 
Colorado, Kansas, and Oklahoma. 

The price paid France was sixty million francs, equal 
to almost twelve million dollars. In addition, the 
United States agreed to assume certain claims which 
citizens of this country had against France, amounting 
to three millions. This made the territory cost, alto- 
gether, fifteen millions of dollars, or less than three 
cents an acre. 

Some declared that the President had no authority 



6 9 

to make the purchase. President Jefferson admitted 
that he stretched his power "till it cracked"; but 
though he doubted his own authority, he did not doubt 
the wisdom of the transaction. In giving his reasons 
for making the purchase, he said, — 

" There is on the globe one single spot, the possessor 
of which is our natural and habitual enemy. It is 
New Orleans, through which the produce of three 
eighths of our territory must pass to market. This 
territory, from its fertility, will yield more than half 
of our whole produce, and contain more than half of 
our inhabitants." 

Though many opposed the measure of Jefferson, a 
majority agreed with him in the wisdom of his policy. 
The Louisiana purchase prevented Great Britain from 
seizing the territory, extinguished the French claim, 
and made it impossible for any other monarchy to gain 
a new foothold in North America. Had it not been 
made, it is possible that Missouri would to-day be sub- 
ject to some foreign power. 

As already stated, the purchase was made in 1803; 
in October of the same year, the treaty was ratified by 
the United States Senate. 

On December 20, the American troops entered the 
city of New Orleans. Nine days later, at midday, the 
flag of France which floated from the staff in the public 
square of New Orleans began to descend. At the 
same time, the stars and stripes of the American Union 
appeared above the crowd, and slowly mounted the 
pole. Midway, the two flags met. Then amidst the 
thunders of cannon, the music of " Hail Columbia," 



70 

the cheers of spectators, and the waving of hand- 
kerchiefs and banners, the tricolor continued its 
descent to the ground, and the flag of the United 
States soared rapidly aloft and flung out its folds 
to the breeze on the summit of the staff. 

Though Louisiana proper was 
surrendered to the United 
">- States December 29, 1803, 
it was not until March 
9, 1804, that Upper 
Louisiana was form- 
ally handed over to 
the American au- 
thorities. On that 
day, the American 
troops crossed the 
river from Cahokia, Illinois, 
and Don Carlos Delassus 
delivered the territory to 
Captain Amos Stoddard of 
the United States army. 
A little explanation may make clear a point which 
seems somewhat confused. Upper Louisiana had not 
up to this time been surrendered to France. Delassus, 
the lieutenant governor, still ruled the country as a 
Spanish official. In order to make the transfer regular 
and legal, Captain Stoddard was made the agent of 
France, to receive from Spain the formal surrender 
of Upper Louisiana. This took place March 9, 1804, 
and on the next day the territory was transferred from 
France to the United States, according to the treaty. 




7i 

On March 8, 1804, Missouri belonged to Spain, on 
the 9th it belonged to France, and on the 10th it was 
the property of the United States. In three days, 
Upper Louisiana belonged to three different nations. 

Though the people of St. Louis were in sympathy 
with the new republic in the east, they were strongly 
attached to the old government. It was with feelings 
of regret and apprehension that they saw the stars and 
stripes take the place of the well-known flag of Spain. 

The transfer worked a wonderful change in St. Louis 
and all the other Missouri settlements. Business be- 
came more brisk, and the population was rapidly in- 
creased by an energetic and thrifty class of settlers, 
who came from the eastern and southern States. 

On March 26, 1804, two weeks after Captain Stod- 
dard assumed command of St. Louis, Congress passed 
an act dividing Louisiana into two parts. The southern 
part was known as the Territory of Orleans, and later 
became the State of Louisiana. The northern part was 
at first called the District of Louisiana, and was attached, 
for administrative purposes, to Indiana Territory. The 
next year, however, it was itself made a Territory, and 
General Wilkinson of the United States army was ap- 
pointed the first governor. 

The capital of the Territory was St. Louis, and the 
executive offices were in the old government building 
on Main Street, just south of the public square, called 
La Place d f Armes. 



XL 

THE FIRST SCHOOLMASTERS. 

AN action often produces a result entirely different 
from that which was expected or planned. What 
is intended as an injury to a person or country some- 
times results in a benefit. 

When Aaron Burr, in 1805, conspired to seize all the 
western Territories and States, annex them to Mexico, 
and set up an empire, he hoped not only to make him- 
self the emperor, but also to strike a blow at the United 
States government, which he hated. His effort resulted 
in his own ruin, but was of some practical benefit to 
Missouri. 

In 1805 Burr went to St. Louis and held an interview 
with General Wilkinson, then governor of the Territory. 
His object was to induce the general to join him in his 
enterprise of setting up a new empire. Some of Burr's 
friends insist that Governor Wilkinson did consent to 
aid in the conspiracy, but they are of doubtful authority, 
and Wilkinson himself always denied having any such 
intentions. 

Burr organized his expedition, started down the Ohio 
with a fleet of keel boats, and entered the Mississippi 
with a number of armed men. They were arrested by 
the United States authorities, and Burr was taken a 

72 



73 

prisoner to Virginia, where he was tried and acquitted. 
The most of Burr's followers were confined in Missouri, 
where, after a few weeks or months of imprisonment, 
they also were acquitted. Many of them were young 
men from New York City, who were naturally not at all 
fitted for the rugged life of pioneers. They were men 
of education and refinement, who now found themselves 
thrown into a most unfortunate position, with no means 
of getting back to their far-off homes on the Atlantic 
coast. 

Their situation was really deplorable. Left as they 
were without money, hundreds of miles away from 
home, surrounded by people with ways and manners 
wholly different from their own, and yet compelled to 
live with them, it became a serious question how the 
young strangers should earn their livelihood. They 
could not cut down the great trees, nor plow the prairies, 
nor hunt and trap, as did the hardy frontiersmen. 

Of what avail was all education in this wilderness, 
where muscle, and not brains, was in demand ? At last 
one of them suggested that they turn teachers. They 
decided to do so ; and, according to the statement of 
an official of the time, they supplied the Territory with 
dancing masters, writing masters, and school-teachers 
for many years. 

A band of these itinerant pedagogues went up the 
river to St. Louis and spread over Missouri, pursuing 
their vocation. They were the first professional school- 
teachers Missouri ever had. Their lot was a hard one, 
but they planted the seeds of education, and did much 
good. Except what little the priests had been able to 



74 

do in mission schools, education was unknown in Mis- 
souri until Burr's expedition supplied the Territory 
with teachers. 

The country was thinly populated, and the people 
poor. There were no schoolhouses outside of three or 
four towns, and the first schools were taught in the 
cabins of the people. Sometimes a night school was 
added, which the parents attended. 

Spelling, reading, writing, and arithmetic were the 
only branches thought essential at that time. The 
schoolmaster was paid so much "a head," or for each 
scholar. He lived with the people in the neighborhood 
where he taught, and assisted in making fires, splitting 
wood, milking cows, and in other odd jobs to earn his 
board. 

He was paid whatever the people could afford to 
give him. The great hope of these teachers was to 
accumulate enough money to return to their homes 
across the Alleghanies ; but year after year passed 
by, and they were still as poor as when they were 
freed from prison. Few, if any, ever returned to New 
York. 

Congress appropriated the common fields of the vil- 
lages to school purposes, but it was a long time before 
Missouri derived any benefit from a public school fund. 
There was nothing of the kind during the time of Burr's 
teachers. 

When these first itinerant pedagogues, or wandering 
schoolmasters, became tired of teaching in private 
houses, they urged the people in the settlements to 
erect separate buildings for school purposes. In one 



75 



neighborhood, the frontiersmen began to discuss the 
plan, and a majority of them approved of it. 

Ste. Genevieve, St. Louis, and St. Charles already had 
cabins which were used for schoolhouses ; and these 
men thought that there was no reason why other settle- 
ments should not have them also. 

One day the settlers gathered at a spot agreed upon, 
with their axes in their 
hands, for the purpose 
of beginning their first ... : ^; 

schoolhouse. The /I . 

schoolmaster came ; . ; ■.';' f^^A- v i 

with them to super- / < 
intend the affair. 

They began to cut 
down trees, hew the 
sides, and notch the 
ends. Then they laid 
log upon log until the 
walls were of the right 
height. A door was 
sawed out of one side, 
and a log left out on 
the opposite side for the window. Nearly a whole end 
was taken up with a huge fireplace, above which rose a 
stick-and-mud chimney. The cracks between the logs 
were chinked and daubed with clay, mixed with leaves 
and grass. 

Some of the men split thin slabs from logs and hewed 
one side smooth. These were the puncheons of which 
the floor was made. In other cabin schoolhouses there 




76 

was often no floor at all. The furniture was composed 
of benches without backs, and a long thin slab or board 
for a writing desk. The long window was without glass, 
but a thin piece of cloth or paper was pasted over it to 
keep out the wind in winter. In houses of this sort 
were taught the first schools in Missouri. 

What text-books did they use ? Almost anything. 
The only regularity was in the spelling book and arith- 
metic. For readers some had the New Testament, 
others Bunyan's " Pilgrim's Progress," Weem's " Life 
of Marion," of Washington, or of Franklin, or any other 
book that the family had, or could borrow. 

St. Louis, St. Charles, Boone, and Howard counties 
were the first to enjoy anything like respectable schools. 
As new counties were laid out and settled, each had to 
pass through the stage of the log schoolhouse, with 
three months' schooling a year, and the teacher board- 
ing about among the scholars. 

Before there was a county school fund, or a county 
commissioner, the trustees often took it upon themselves 
to examine an applicant as to his qualifications. The 
teachers in those clays were usually ignorant, and their 
examiners more so. 

There is a story told of one of these examinations, 
which illustrates the ignorance of both teacher and 
trustees. The applicant was asked if the earth was 
round or flat. He answered that he wasn't quite sure, 
but that he was prepared to teach it either way. After 
a conference on the part of the trustees, it was decided 
that he should teach that it was flat. 

The school children in those days were mischievous, 



77 

much as they are now in country districts. They had 
a fashion of " turning the master out" on the last day 
of school, or at the beginning of the holidays, to make 
him treat. They would go to the schoolhouse before 
he did, and bar the door so that he could not get in. 
It was their purpose to keep him out until he would 
agree to give them a treat of apples or candy. 

Sometimes the teacher took this joke all in good part, 
and sometimes he did not. If he was too obstinate, the 
"big boys" would seize him and carry him to the near- 
est stream or pond, and "duck him " in the water until 
he would agree to treat. Often they would have to cut 
the ice before they could dip him under the water. 



ji^Sl 




XII. 
EARLY MISSOURIANS. 

WHEN Louisiana was purchased by the United 
States, St. Louis was only a village, laid out 
and built according to the French plan. There were 
two long streets running parallel with the river, and a 
number of others intersecting them at right angles. 

A few houses stood on a line with what is now 
Third Street, then known as La 7'iie des Granges, or 
" The Street of Barns." The church building on Second 
Street was an ordinary ''hewed log house." West of 
Fourth Street, there was little else than woods and 
commons. The largest house in St. Louis was the 
government building on Main Street, near Walnut. 

There was no post office, and no need of one, for 
there was no regular postal service in Missouri. A 
village merchant, however, would bring letters home 
with his goods, and stick them up in the windows of 
his store, so that the owners could come and get them. 
He also took it upon himself to forward letters for his 
customers. 

Government boats occasionally ran between St. Louis 
and New Orleans, but there was no regular passenger 
or freight line. Furs and lead were the principal arti- 
cles of export, for farming had hardly become an indus- 

78 



79 

try. Corn, wheat, and vegetables were grown, but only 
in sufficient quantity to supply home demands. 

Le Clerc, who lived on Main Street, between Walnut 
and Elm, was the only baker in the town ; and as yet 
there were but three blacksmiths and only one physi- 
cian. There were two little French taverns, both near 
the corner of Main and Locust streets. One was kept 
by Yostic, and the other by Laudreville. 

Merchants were numerous, but they held their goods 
at very high prices. A store at that time was quite. dif- 
ferent from one of to-day. A place only a few feet 
square would contain the entire stock of a merchant. 
Indeed, it was not unusual for one of the first traders 
in town to keep his goods in a box or chest, supplied 
with a lid, which he opened when he wished to display 
his wares to a customer. 

Soon after St. Louis became an American town, a 
post office was found to be necessary. Immigrants were 
pouring into the new Territory, and St. Louis and the 
adjoining settlements were increasing their population. 
The newcomers had friends in the South and East 
with whom they wished to correspond, and the business 
of the town had made it more important than many a 
place of its size. In 1804 the first official post office 
in St. Louis was established, with Mr. Rufus Easton as 
postmaster. 

Mr. Joseph Charless came to St. Louis soon after 
Louisiana became the property of the United States. 
He was^i printer by trade, and had a contract to do the 
printing for the Territory. Mr. Charless was an intelli- 
gent, enterprising gentleman, and he foresaw a great 



8o 

future for the new town. He conceived the idea of 
establishing a newspaper in St. Louis, although none as 
yet had ever been published west of the Mississippi. 

When Charless mentioned the matter to some friends, 
they advised against the enterprise ; but he was not to 
be deterred from his purpose, and on July 12, 1808, he 
issued the first number of the Missouri Gazette. It was 
a sheet no larger than a royal octavo page. Notwith- 
standing the many predictions of failure, the Missouri 
Gazette prospered, and after the first few months be- 
came self-sustaining. The name was afterward changed 
to the Missouri Republican, and still later it became the 
St. Louis Republic, which is now one of the large daily 
papers of the city. 

On November 9, 1809, St. Louis was incorporated as 
a town, upon the petition of the taxpayers, under the 
authority of an act of the Territory of Louisiana passed 
the year before. 

As is usually the case on the frontier, Missouri was 
for some time the abode of rough and lawless men ; 
but among them were to be found those who were quiet 
and honorable. In fact, some who were called lawless 
were honest enough in their own way. They might 
not hesitate to end a quarrel in bloodshed, yet at the 
same time would not swindle a man out of a cent. 
Courts were held irregularly in the different districts 
into which the Territory had been divided. Real estate 
had increased in value, and the claim jumper, squatter, 
and land pirate had already appeared on the scene. 
The pistol and knife were often resorted to in the set- 
tlement of disputed claims. 



8i 

Much has been said about the rough character of the 
early Missourians. Some of it is false, and yet a great 
deal is true. The frontiersman learned to depend on his 
rifle to supply him with food and to protect his home. 
Constantly coming in contact with rude men, he par- 
took of their nature. Liable at any time to be shot or 
stabbed, he learned to shoot and stab on his own account. 

Though a frontiersman might be ever so agreeable 
and pleasant a companion, he was a dangerous person 
to quarrel with. Lawsuits and disputes over conflicting 
claims or mining rights often led to bloody contests. 

There lived in St. Louis about the year 1809 two 
men, known as Colonel S. and Mr. P. They were the 
best of friends. Both were gentlemen, as Dickens says, 
of the " good old stock " ; that is, if we take the stock of 
a century ago to be good. 

They had known each other for years, and had never 
quarreled. But at last they got into a dispute over a 
mining claim located in the Ste. Genevieve district. 
Colonel S. pondered long over the matter, and at last 
made up his mind that there was but one course to pur- 
sue. He called one day on his neighbor, and, finding 
him alone, said in his coolest manner, " Good morning, 
Mr. P." 

"Good morning, Colonel S. Pray be seated." And 
the man handed his friend a chair. 

The colonel seated himself, and a serious expression 
came over his face as he said, " Mr. P., we have been 
friends for a long time — " 

"Yes, Colonel," interrupted Mr. P., quietly. "We 
have long been friends." 

STO. OF MO. — 6 



82 



" And I feel a great regret that any misunderstanding 
should have arisen between us," resumed the colonel, 
wiping his troubled face with his handkerchief. 
" So do I, Colonel, I greatly regret it," put in Mr. P. 
" Here we are entirely alone, and there is no one to 
interrupt us. Let us settle the matter in an amicable 
way." 

" Certainly, certainly," assented Mr. P., before whose 
vision there arose a plan of peaceful adjustment of 
their difficulties. 

"You know my aversion to lawyers and their quib- 
bles," continued the colonel. " I have here a couple 
of friends that have no mistake in them." Hereupon 
he drew a brace of pistols and presented their butts to 
/^-^ his friend. " Take your 
choice ; they are both 
loaded and equally 
true." 

Mr. P. drew back 
and thanked him 
kindly, but declined 
the offer. 

" Why, my dear 

Colonel, I would 

rather lose the 

whole claim than 

harm a hair of your 

head," he said. 

" So would I. 

Let us divide, arbitrate, 

or anything you wish." 




83 

Their dispute was satisfactorily settled, and blood- 
shed was averted. 

Dueling was confined to what were called gentlemen 
of note, politicians, and leaders in society. It was at 
this period common in the East as well as the West. 
The man who had fought a duel, though he might be 
a murderer, was a sort of hero. In some instances 
these duelers have been elevated to the highest. posi- 
tions of honor and trust. There was some excuse for 
this state of affairs in Missouri. That part of the 
country still felt the effect of French influence, and 
with the French nation dueling has not even yet gone 
out of fashion. 

Mr. Timothy Flint, a New England clergyman, 
writes the following about the people of Louisiana at 
this time ; — and by Louisiana he meant what is now 
Missouri, — 

" It is true there are many worthless people here, 
and the most worthless, it must be confessed, are from 
New England. It is true there are gamblers, and 
gougers, and outlaws ; but there are fewer of them 
than from the nature of things and the character of 
the age and the world, we ought to expect. I have 
traveled in these regions thousands of miles, under all 
circumstances of exposure and danger, and this too 
in many instances where I was not known to be a 
minister, or where such knowledge would have had no 
influence in protecting me. I have never carried the 
slightest weapon of defense." 

Mr. Flint is regarded by all historians as the most 
impartial writer concerning the people of Louisiana 



8 4 

at that early day. His travels extended over nearly 
all the Mississippi valley, and his book is said to be 
the best description of the people west of the Missis- 
sippi that has ever been published. Mr. Flint draws 
a fine picture of the backwoodsman of the time : — 

" He is generally an amiable and virtuous man. He 
has vices and barbarisms peculiar to his situation. His 
manners are rough. He wears, it may be, a long- 
beard. He has a great quantity of bear or deer skin 
wrought into his household establishment, his furniture, 
and dress. He carries a knife or dirk in his bosom, 
and when in the woods has his rifle at his back and 
a pack of dogs at his heels. An Atlantic stranger 
transferred directly from one of our cities to his 
door would recoil from the encounter with him. But 
remember that his gun and his dogs are among his 
chief means of support and profit. Remember that 
all his first days here were passed in dread of savages. 
Remember that he still encounters them, still meets 
bears and panthers. Enter his door and tell him you 
are benighted, and wish the shelter of his cabin for 
the night. The welcome is indeed seemingly un- 
gracious, — 

" ' I reckon you can stay,' or ' I suppose we must 
let you stay.' But this apparent ungraciousness is 
the harbinger of every kindness he can bestow, and 
every comfort his cabin can afford. Good coffee, 
corn bread and butter, venison, pork, wild and tame 
fowls, are set before you. His wife, timid, silent, re- 
served, but constantly attentive to your comfort, does 
not sit at the table with you, but like the wives of 



85 

the patriarchs stands and attends on you. You are 
shown the best bed the house can offer. When the 
kind hospitality has been afforded you as long as you 
choose to stay, and when you depart, and speak of 
your bill, you are most commonly told, with some slight 
mark of resentment, that they ' don't keep tavern.' 
Even the flaxen-haired children will turn away from 
your money. 

"If we were to try them by the standard of New 
England customs and opinions, that is to say, the 
customs of a people under entirely different circum- 
stances, there would be things in the picture that 
would strike us offensively. They care little about 
ministers, and less about paying them. They are 
averse to all and even the most necessary restraints. 
They are destitute of the forms and observances of 
society and religion ; but they are sincere and kind 
without professions, and have a coarse but substantial 
morality." 

Occasionally in the older counties of Missouri may 
still be seen one of the quaint little cabins of these 
early pioneers. It is half house and half fortress. A 
few years ago some of the old French houses, plastered 
within and without, were still standing in St. Louis 
and St. Charles counties. Some may even yet be 
found, a monument of a bygone people who laid the 
corner stone of this great commonwealth. 



XIII. 

WESTERN BOATMEN. 

UNDER the treaty between Great Britain and 
France, and still later between Great Britain and 
Spain, these three nations were to have free use of the 
Mississippi River. English boats floated down the Ohio 
into the Mississippi, and thence to New Orleans. From 
St. Louis, the Spanish and French boats joined the 
English, and often a dozen of the barks called keel boats 
would glide down the great stream together. When 
the thirteen colonies gained their independence, England 
ceded her rights over the river to the new nation. 

At the time of the Louisiana purchase, a class of 
hardy frontiersmen, known as " boatmen," had sprung 
into existence. These were men who earned their liv- 
ing by working on the boats which ran up and down 
the western rivers ; for now it was no longer the cus- 
tom for each settler to take his own produce to market. 
The boatmen were brave and muscular, but rude and 
uneducated ; their lives were full of toil and stirring 
adventure. 

Conspicuous among these early navigators was an 
Irish-American named Mike Fink. He was born in 
Pittsburg, and we first hear of him as a boatman on the 
Ohio, where he became famous both at the oar and 

86 



87 

with his rifle. He was made the hero of an early- 
romance, and songs were sung in his praise. 

According to his biographer, he was " strong as an 
ox, and brave as a lion." He was said to be the best 
marksman in the West ; and at all the shooting matches 
he was ruled out on account of his skill. Though the 
novelist and poet have tried to cast a halo of romance 
about Mike, he was, like many other heroes, only a 
cruel, treacherous bully. 




His keel boat was called the " Light-foot," and as it 
glided down the river Fink used to amuse himself by 
shooting the tails off from pigs on the shore, without 
doing them any other harm. He had a friend named 
Carpenter, who was almost as fine a marksman as him- 
self. The two used to entertain their companions by 
shooting tin cups off each other's head. 

Once, while on a trip up the Mississippi River, Mike 
and his friend quarreled, but " made up " ; and then, to 
prove their friendship, they decided to indulge in the 



88 

tin cup amusement. They drew lots to see which 
should have the first shot, and the lot fell to Mike. He 
fired, and Carpenter fell dead. Mike claimed at first 
that it was an accident, and among the boatmen in the 
wilderness it passed as such. But a few months later 
he declared that he had killed Carpenter on purpose, 
and was glad of it. A man named Talbot, who was a 
friend of Carpenter, heard Fink's boast, and shot him 
dead on the spot. 

There were, however, very few such boatmen as 
Mike Fink. He gained a reputation for cruelty by 
which he is remembered to this day. 

The keel boats of this time were similar to those of 
the earliest settlers. They were propelled by the cur- 
rent, aided by sweeps, when going down the .stream, 
but were usually "cordelled" upstream, though sails 
were sometimes used. Such was the first mode of 
navigation to and from Missouri ; and for many years 
all transportation of freight was done either in this 
way, or by means of pack horses. 

There were two methods of cordelling a boat up the 
stream. Sometimes one end of a long rope was carried 
on ahead and fastened to some object in the river or on 
shore, and the crew then stood in the bow and pro- 
pelled the boat by pulling on the rope. The usual 
method, however, was for the crew to walk along the 
shore and pull the boat after them as canal mules do. 

There is an amusing story told of an Irishman work- 
ing his passage up the Mississippi in a keel boat. He 
was at Ste. Genevieve, and wanted to go to St. Louis. 
Learning that a boat was going up the river to that 



8 9 

place, he asked the captain if he might work his pas- 
sage. 

" Certainly," said the captain, who stood in the bow 
of the boat with a long pole in his hand. 

The Irishman took his carpetbag aboard. When all 
were ready to start, he joined the crew on shore, and, 
seizing the rope, assisted in pulling the craft upstream. 
After two or three miles of such navigation he said, — 

" Faith, if it wasn't for the name of riding, I'd about 
as soon walk." 

Keel boats were large in those days. They had 
cabins, and carried passengers as well as freight. Men, 
women, and children often took voyages on the rivers 
in these rude boats. 

A man who started down the Mississippi in a keel 
boat, which was wrecked above New Madrid, has left 
an account of the disaster. This gentleman had under 
his charge a cousin, who was going to join her husband 
in New Orleans. 

" One dark, rainy night our boat drifted rapidly down- 
stream with the current. We usually 'tied up along 
the shore ' on very dark nights, but our captain, who 
was also pilot, declared he could steer in the darkest 
night that ever came. 

" Most of the passengers had retired to their cabins 
and were asleep, when suddenly there came a crash 
which sent me out of my berth on to the floor. I 
sprang to my feet, and my first thought was of Nancy 
(the lady under my charge). I ran to her cabin and 
found her up and dressed, and not nearly so badly 
frightened as I had feared she would be. 



90 

" ' What has happened ? ' she asked. 

" ' The boat has struck a snag, and may sink. Stay 
right here until I come for you.' 

"Then I went on deck, where all was confusion. 
There were twelve or fifteen passengers there, running 
about like mad people. 

" The most excited of all were five men from St. 
Louis. They had dragged their trunks and carpet- 
bags to the deck, and were calling for a skiff or yawl 
to take them ashore. All the captain and mate could 
do or say to quiet them was in vain. Three or four 
lanterns were lighted, and served to increase the terror 
of all by revealing the black, turbid waters into which 
we were sinking. 

"The men who had brought their trunks on deck 
seized one of the yawls, leaped in with their baggage, 
before any one could prevent them, and pulled to shore, 
which the flashes of lightning showed was not more 
than thirty yards away. 

"About the time they landed with their baggage, I 
observed that the boat began to rock just like a basin 
sinking in shallow water. The captain noticed this 
also, and shouted, — 

" ' You are all safe. The boat is on a sand bar, and 
can't sink.' 

" In fact, one of the crew had cast the lead line a 
moment before, and had discovered that we were in 
only about five feet of water. In a moment our keel 
settled on the sand bar, with the deck and cabins two 
feet above water. I went back to Nancy, who was 
anxiously awaiting my return. 



9i 

" ' What shall we do ? ' she asked. 
" ' Go to bed and sleep until morning,' I answered. 
"She did so. It rained all night. It was one of 
those cold, disagreeable rains that make one shiver, 
and one's bones ache. Next morning we saw five or 
six wet, miserable wretches sitting on the bank, shiver- 
ing, and begging the captain to take them on board. 

"They were the selfish cowards who would have 
escaped with their luggage and left the remainder of 
us to drown. Their haste to get on land was so great 
that they forgot to moor the yawl in which they went 
ashore, and it had floated away. 

" Though the captain had another, he would not send 
for them, and left them all night in the rain. But soon 
after daylight he sent and brought them all on board. 

" Our boat had struck a snag which knocked a hole 
in the bottom ; but fortunately, after striking, we came 
immediately to such shallow water that we could not sink. 
"We lived in this grounded boat for over a week 
before another keel boat came and took us down the 
river to our journey's end." 

The dangers of wind and wave were not all that the 
daring boatmen had to encounter. The wild shores 
were inhabited by hostile savages, who often attacked 
them. 

"Many a time I have helped cordelle a boat up- 
stream, expecting every moment to be shot down by 
an ambushed savage," said an old keel-boatman. 
"Often I have seen the man before me drop by a 
shot fired from the bushes, and have felt the wind 
of the Indians' bullets on my face. 



9 2 

"Once, as we were cordelling our boat up the Mis- 
souri, the captain had just called out, ' Hand over 
hand,' which means to take up the slack on the rope, 
and pull closer to shore. Just then there came the 
crack of a gun from the bushes up the bank, and Joe 
Fugate, next before me, went down. 

" ' All aboard ! ' shouted the captain ; and he shoved 
the bow in to within six feet of shore. By this time 
the Indians' bullets from the hill were whistling like 
hail about us. Two of the boys carried Joe to the 
boat, and we all got on. Joe was laid in a comforta- 
ble place, for he was badly hurt, and the rest of us ran 
for our guns, while the boat was pushed out into the 
current. 

" We always carried our guns strapped on our backs 
when we thought there was danger ; but this attack 
was a complete surprise. Seizing my rifle, I fired at 
an Indian who was running down the steep bank 
toward us, and missed. Two more fired, and he fell. 

" The hillside was now alive with shouting and yell- 
ing savages. Our boat reached the middle of the 
stream and drifted down, the Indians all the while 
running along the shore and pouring in a continual 
fire. Two more of our crew were wounded. We 
had drifted down about half a mile, when we ran 
upon a sand bar within rifle range of the shore. 

"The savages, supposing that they had their prey 
secure, gave utterance to the most appalling yells I 
ever heard. They came down to the water's edge, 
and, lying down on the sand, poured a continuous 
rain of bullets into us. 



93 



"We knew that unless we could get off the bar 
we should be compelled to surrender, for our ammu- 
nition would soon be exhausted, and then the Indians 
would swim to us, and come aboard our boat. 

" Four of us volunteered to leap into the water and 
push the boat off the bar. We leaped in on the oppo- 
site side from the Indians, and 
keeping under as much as pos- 
sible, we crawled around to 
the bow, placed our shoul- 
ders against the boat, 
and lifted and pushed 
until I thought I could 
see stars. At last the 
boat broke ground 
and drifted away 
into deep water, leav- 
ing us four behind. 
One of the men, named l—j^T-i 
Joe Sapp, could not 
swim a stroke. The 
Indians' bullets were whiz- 
zing thick as bees about our 

heads, and we decided that we must somehow get to 
the boat. - 

" Bennet and Briggs, who were strong swimmers, 
told Sapp to place a hand on the back of each, and 
hold to them, and they would carry him to the boat. 
They did so. I followed after them, and we all climbed 
on board. 

" The Indians followed us for seven miles down the 




94 

stream, keeping up a continuous fire. Though we had 
none killed, we had five men wounded, and were de- 
layed two weeks at Franklin before we could proceed 
up the river." 

The savages often captured and robbed the boats on 
their way down or on their return up the river. Many 
artifices were resorted to in order to draw the boats in 
to shore. 

Once a St. Louis keel boat bound for New Orleans 
was drifting down the stream, when a man was seen 
on shore making frantic signals for it to land and 
take him on board. He wore a hat slouched over his 
eyes, and as he sat on the bank he kept dipping his 
hand into the water, apparently washing a wound on 
his face. 

The keel boat began to put in to shore, when one of 
the crew said, — 

" Maybe it is a trick to decoy us." 

" How ? " 

"It may be an Indian in white men's clothes." 

" I have a spyglass in my cabin. I will get it and 
see," said the captain. 

When he had leveled his glass on the person on 
shore, he saw a dark hand in the water, and a mo- 
ment later the head was raised so that he could see the 
face. Sure enough, it was an Indian in the clothes of 
a white man. 

Then, turning his glass, the captain discovered heads 
and rifle barrels peeping out from behind the bushes 
and trees. He ordered the man at the helm to turn the 
prow toward the opposite shore, and the sweeps were 



95 

manned. The boat glided over to the other side of the 
stream and escaped the trap set for it. 

The danger, toil, and hardships of the western boat- 
man were numerous, yet there was a peculiar fasci- 
nation about the life which caused many to adopt it. 
These men played an important part in the settlement 
of Missouri. But the magic influence of steam has 
done away with the keel-boat system, and that brave, 
hardy race, once familiar in every river town, has passed 
away. 




XIV. 
THE BLOCKHOUSE AT THE BIG SPRING. 

THERE is in St. Louis County a place known as the 
Big Spring. Soon after the territory was pur- 
chased by the United States, a few families from 
Virginia and Kentucky settled near it. Their num- 
bers increased until quite a settlement grew up. 

The Osages, Pottawatomies, and Iowa Indians fre- 
quently came down the river in canoes to annoy the 
settlers at this place. They would come in small thiev- 
ing bands, and plunder indiscriminately. This annoy- 
ance, together with the alarm felt over the fate of 
Bouvet and the killing of others, caused the people at 
tin- Big Spring to build a blockhouse. 

Blockhouses were not all alike. This one was made 
of logs, as usual, but the second story was laid corner- 
wise on the first, so that ports could be made to cover 
not only the sides, but the corners as well. The port- 
holes were not over a foot square, and were provided 
with blocks of wood with which they could be plugged 
up after the riflemen had fired, in order to make the 
people secure while they were reloading. 

Rumors of Indians in the vicinity very much alarmed 
the settlers at the Big Spring, and a request was sent 
to St. Louis for soldiers to guard the blockhouse. 

96 



97 

Twenty privates under a lieutenant were accordingly 
detailed for this duty. 

The presence of the garrison, instead of allaying 
the fears of the people, increased them. The soldiers 
seemed to be positive evidence of danger. 

There was in the blockhouse a timid young lady 
named Fugate, who, unlike most frontier girls, was 
subject to fainting fits. She supposed that the sol- 
diers would know all about the Indians, and that they 
were the proper persons to appeal to for information. 
Timidly approaching the sentry on duty, she asked, — 

" Do you think we are in any danger, Mr. Soldier?" 

The sentry, in a spirit of mischief, answered, 
" Shouldn't be surprised, madam, if we weren't all 
dead before morning." 

With a shriek, Miss Fugate swooned, and was carried 
to her room. During the night she suffered from 
hysterics, and her friends feared she would die of 
fright. The anxiety and dread of the people in the 
fort were so great that they slept little. 

Several days passed, and, as no Indians appeared, 
the soldiers returned to St. Louis, while the people 
went back to their homes and resumed the work on 
their farms. 

One morning, two settlers named Clark and Bed- 
dington, while going to the river, were astonished to 
see half a dozen canoes filled with Indians paddling 
in to shore. They at once hurried back to the settle- 
ment and warned everybody that they saw. 

" Go to the blockhouse, run to the blockhouse ; the 
Indians are coming ! " was the general cry. Two or 
STO. of mo. — 7 



9 8 



three settlers lived more than 
a mile away, and a boy 
was mounted on a horse 
and dispatched for them. 
Before the Indians 
reached the Big Spring 
settlement, the whites 
were all within the 
blockhouse, and had 
, most of their live stock 
within an inclosure suf- 
ficiently near to protect 
them. There are con- 
flicting reports as to the 
number of the attacking 
force. Some say there 
were but sixteen, others 
say there were thirty- 
two, while still others put the number at sixty. 

The Indians had expected to surprise the white 
people, and had planned to leave the country as soon 
as they had taken a few scalps and had stolen such 
property as they could conveniently lay their hands 
on. It was a great disappointment to find the intended 
victims in their stronghold. 

The blockhouse was in a grove of trees, and the 
savages, taking shelter behind these, opened fire. 
The shots were returned, and for a while the volleys 
made it seem as if a battle were raging. 

Most of the women were as cool as the men, and 
stood by, molding bullets and loading guns. But 




99 

Miss Fugate was no pioneer. The crack of rifles 
shattered her nerves, and after swooning two or three 
times she became frantic with hysterics. 

No one within the blockhouse was killed, and but 
two or three were wounded, and those not seriously. 
It is not known if any of the Indians were killed. 
None were found after the fight, but the savages had 
a way of carrying off their dead and wounded. In 
connection with this attack, there is a story told which 
illustrates the cunning of the Indians. A boy saw a 
savage creeping through the bushes and tall grass on 
the south side in order to get into a better position. 
He fired, and the Indian fell. 

" I've killed one of them! I've killed one of 
them ! " the lad shouted joyfully. 

An old hunter named Crow, who thoroughly under- 
stood the tricks of the wily red man, said, — 

" Don't be too sure, Jess. Watch him until I get 
my gun loaded." 

" What are you going to do ? " the boy asked, when 
he saw Mr. Crow aiming at the fallen brave. " Don't 
go to wasting lead on a dead Indian." 

"Wait and see," was all the answer that the old 
hunter made. 

The Indian lay in the grass so that only a part of 
one shoulder was visible. The white man aimed at 
that part and fired. The fallen brave leaped to his 
feet with a yell of pain, and, clapping his hand to his 
wounded shoulder, ran howling away. 

" There goes your dead Indian," said Mr. Crow, with 
a laugh. 



IOO 



After that, whenever the boy was inclined to boast 
of his skill with a rifle, he was silenced by some one 
asking if he had not slain an Indian at the blockhouse. 

Finding it impossible to capture the white men's 
stronghold by storm, and fearing reinforcements from 
St. Louis, the Indians, after killing some cows and 
hogs in the woods, hurried to their canoes and pad- 
dled up the river. The blockhouse was never again 
attacked. 




XV. 

THE LEWIS AND CLARK EXPEDITION. 

JUST before the transfer of Louisiana to the United 
States, in 1803, President Jefferson was preparing 
to send out an exploring expedition into the territory 
which now comprises the northwestern part of the 
United States. Beyond Indian tradition, that region 
was then unknown. 

The President's suggestions had been approved by 
Congress, and in January, 1803, he commissioned Cap- 
tains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to explore 
the Missouri River and its principal branches to their 
fountain heads. They were then to seek and trace to 
its termination in the Pacific, some stream which might 
give the most direct and practicable water communica- 
tion across the continent, for purposes of navigation. 

At that time railroads were unknown, and navigable 
streams were the only means by which commerce could 
be extensively carried on. 

The expedition of Lewis and Clark was of the utmost 
importance to Missouri. It resulted in a definite knowl- 
edge of the great West, and in the subsequent push- 
ing of settlements and trading posts farther into the 
interior. 

Shortly after Lewis and Clark received their orders, 



102 

the news of the conclusion of the Louisiana purchase 
reached the United States. In May, 1804, these two 
officers came to St. Louis with thirty soldiers, a number 
of guides, and all the necessary supplies. Boats suita- 
ble for the long journey were constructed. They were 
of a peculiar make, long and narrow, strong and light, 
and capable of floating in shallow water. They were 
provided with sweeps, and with light masts which could 
be taken down when not needed. The best workmen 
obtainable were employed in their construction, and few 
boats have had greater care expended on them. 

The work was pushed forward so rapidly that the 
expedition was ready before the end of the month. 
Then, on the day set for its departure, the whole town 
of St. Louis turned out to see the bold explorers start ; 
for their journey was to take them thousands of miles 
through the wilderness. 

It was one of the most hazardous undertakings of 
the time, and it required men of great courage and 
strength. The party was made up of picked men, 
inured to the privations and dangers of the West. Yet 
many thought, when the little party started, that it 
would never return. Not only were hostile Indians to 
be met, but there were a thousand other dangers to 
be confronted in the great wilderness. 

As the boats glided under easy sail up the broad 
bosom of the Mississippi, a salute was fired from the 
fort, handkerchiefs were waved, and the people along 
the shore gave them many hearty cheers. 

When they entered the mouth of the Missouri, navi- 
gation became more difficult. This river is narrower 



103 

and more crooked than the Mississippi, and the current 
is much swifter. The explorers were compelled, for the 
most part, either to depend upon their sweeps, or else to 
cordelle their boats along the river banks, both of which 
ways were slow and toilsome. 

The party reached St. Charles, and rested one day. 
This was the last landmark of civilization. Beyond, all 
was a dense and unexplored wilderness. 

Slowly up the dark stream the boats glided, day after 
day. All signs of frontier settlements gave way to 
great forests, hills, and prairies. Sometimes there were 
towering bluffs on each side of the stream ; sometimes 
level tracts of forests, and sometimes vast bottoms 
covered with tall wild grass. Occasionally, a deer 
forced its way through the mass of tall grass and 
tangled bushes and vines, and paused on the bank to 
gaze on the strange procession that was passing up the 
stream. 

On June 7, 1804, the explorers reached the mouth of 
Bonne Femme Creek (Good Woman Creek) in Howard 
County, a few miles below where the city of Boonville 
now stands. Being considerably wearied with their 
journey, they did not move their camp all next day, 
but explored the river bottom as far back as the mouth 
of the Moniteau, a stream that empties into the Mis- 
souri at the southeastern corner of Howard County. 

At this place there was a lofty bluff and a projecting 
point of rocks. These were covered with those strange 
and mysterious hieroglyphic Indian paintings which 
have baffled all interpretation. 

While Clark was climbing up a rocky ledge in order 



104 




to examine the paint- 
ings more minutely, a 
singing rattle warned 
him of danger ; turn- 
ing, he discovered a 
large rattlesnake ly- 
ing coiled up on a 
shelf of rock within 
six or eight feet of 
him. With a stout 
stick, he struck the 
reptile a blow that 
crushed its neck. The 
noise of the stroke 
seemed to rouse a whole 
colony of rattlesnakes. From 
crevices in the rock, from behind 
stones, and among bushes there started 
up such an army of them that Clark and 
those with him gave up all thought of 
further investigation, and, retreating hurriedly 
down the bluff, returned to their camp. 

Next day they resumed their toilsome journey up 
the Missouri. They traveled through the heart of 
the State, and along the northwestern border. Sixteen 
hundred miles from St. Louis, they went into winter 
quarters among the Mandan Indians. In April of the 
next year, they passed the mouth of the Yellowstone 
River. Crossing the Rocky Mountains, they entered 
the head waters of the Columbia, and floated down that 
stream to its mouth in the Pacific. They spent the 



105 

winter on the south bank of the Columbia, and in the 
spring set out on their homeward journey. 

In September, 1806, Lewis and Clark arrived with 
their party in St. Louis, after an absence of over 
two years, during which they had traveled more than 
eight thousand miles. On their return, two of the 
guides, named Colter and Potts, obtained permission to 
remain on the Missouri and trap for beaver. Knowing 
the hostility of the Indians, they used to put out their 
traps at night, and take them up in the morning, 
remaining concealed during the day. 

Early one morning, they were ascending a creek to 
examine their traps, when they heard a noise like the 
tramping of wild animals. 

" That noise was made by Indians, and we had better 
retreat," said Colter. 

"Oh, it was a herd of buffalo," declared Potts. 
"Come, don't be a coward." 

They proceeded up the creek, but had not gone two 
hundred yards when four or five hundred Indians 
appeared on the banks, and began to beckon them to 
come on shore. 

As retreat was impossible, Colter turned the head of 
the canoe in to shore. The moment the craft touched 
the bank, an Indian seized the gun belonging to Potts. 
Colter, who was a very strong man, took it away from 
him and gave it back to Potts, who had remained in the 
canoe. On receiving the gun, Potts pushed off into the 
stream, but he had scarcely left the shore when an 
arrow struck him. 

" Colter, I am wounded," he cried. 



io6 

" Don't try to escape, but come back to shore," said 
his comrade. 

Instead of taking this advice, Potts leveled his gun at 
the Indian who had wounded him, and shot the savage 
dead. In a moment, he was pierced by a dozen arrows, 
and expired. The Indians then seized Colter, stripped 
him entirely naked, and began to consult on the manner 
in which they should put him to death. Some favored 
tying him up as a target, and shooting him to death 
with their arrows. 

The chief finally came to Colter, and, placing his 
hand on the captive's shoulder, asked him if he could 
run fast. The white man, who understood some of the 
Indian language, answered that he was a very poor 
runner. The truth was, he was considered remarkably 
swift by the hunters who knew him. 

The chief commanded his warriors to remain where 
they were, and led Colter out on the prairie three or 
four hundred yards. Then he released the captive, 
bidding him save himself if he could. At that instant 
the war whoop sounded behind him, and, impelled by 
the hope of saving his life, he ran with a speed that sur- 
prised himself. Before him lay a prairie about six 
miles across, and beyond this was a heavy forest which 
bordered the banks of a stream. Colter felt that if he 
could reach the forest he would be safe. 

When about halfway across the prairie, he ventured 
to glance back over his shoulder, and saw that the 
Indians were much scattered. He had gained on the 
most of them, but one who carried a spear was not more 
than a hundred yards behind him. With confidence in 



107 

the possibility of escape, he increased his speed to the 
utmost. So greal were his exertions, that the blood 
gushed from his nostril and soon almost covered tin' 

front of Ins body. 

When within a mile oJ the river, Colter heard the 

sound of footsteps behind him. Glancing back, he saw 

tin- savage not twenty yards away. He stopped sud- 
denly, tinned around, and spread out his arms. The 
Indian, surprised at the aelion ol Colter, and at the 

blood)' appearance <>i his body, tried to stop and throw 

his spear. But he st uinbled and tell, his spear Sticking 
into the -found and breaking oil in his hand. 

Colter seized the pointed part oi tin- weapon, pinned 
the savage to the earth, and then continued Ins flight, 
lie reached the creek, plunged in, and concealed him- 

sell under a pile ol driltwood, with his bodv submerged 
in the water. The Indians were soon all over the drift, 

searching lor him, but he remained in his hiding plai e all 

day. At llight, naked and unarmed as he was, he < .one 
out and stalled oil' to seek white people. For seven 

days he traveled, subsisting on wild berries and roots 

which he dug out ol the earth with his hands. 

White people were reached at last, and he was saved. 



XVI. 
PIKE IN NORTHEAST MISSOURI. 

ABOUT the time that President Jefferson appointed 
Lewis and Clark to explore the Missouri, Lieuten- 
ant Zebulon Pike, for whom Pikes Peak is named, was 
appointed to explore the upper Mississippi. 

In the afternoon of Friday, August 9, 1805, Lieuten- 
ant Pike left St. Louis in a keel boat seventy feet long, 
with provisions for four months. He was accompanied 
by a crew, one sergeant, seventeen privates, and one in- 
terpreter. This was the first expedition up the Missis- 
sippi that was sent out by the United States govern- 
ment. 

In 18 10, Lieutenant Pike published a little book de- 
scribing his journey into northeast Missouri. Although 
only twenty-five years of age, he had the wisdom of a 
much older man. He kept a diary in which was a care- 
ful record of every incident of the journey, even to 
catching a few fish or losing a dog. 

On August 15, 1805, he passed the mouth of Salt 
River, where he says he "left another dog." The 
Indian name of Salt River was Auhahah or Oahahah. 
Pike gives us in his diary a brief description of this 
and the neighboring rivers as they then appeared. 

" Salt River bears from the Mississippi north 75 

108 



west, and is about one hundred or one hundred and 
twenty yards wide at its entrance. When I passed, it 
appeared to be perfectly mild, with scarcely any cur- 
rent. About one day's sail up the river, there are salt 
springs, which have been worked for four years; but I 
am not informed as to their qualities or productions. 
In this distance, the navigation of the Mississippi is 
very much obstructed by bars and islands ; indeed, to 
such a degree as to render it difficult to find (in many 
places) a proper channel. The shores are generally a 
sandy soil, timbered with sugar maple, ash, pecan, 
locust, and black walnut. 

" The east side has generally the preference as to 
situations for building. From this to the river Jauflione 
(which is our boundary between the Sac Nation and the 
United States on the west side of the Mississippi) we 
have the hills on the west shore, and the lowlands on 
the east, the latter of which are timbered with hickory, 
oak, ash, maple, pecan, etc. ; the former the same with 
an increase of oak. The east is a rich sandy soil, and 
has many eligible situations for cultivation. 

" About seven miles below the Jauflione a Frenchman 
is settled on the west shore. He is married to a woman 
of the Sac Nation, and lives by a little cultivation and 
the Indian trade. 

"The river before mentioned is about thirty yards 
wide at its mouth, and bears from the Mississippi about 
southwest. In this part the river navigation is good. 
From this to the Wyaconda River the navigation is 
easy, with very few impediments, and the soil on both 
sides is pretty good. This river pays its tribute to the 



no 



^ 



I 



m 



Mississippi by a mouth one hundred yards wide, and 
bears from the latter nearly due west. Just below its 
entrance is a small stream fifteen yards wide which 
discharges itself into the Mississippi." 

The Frenchman with the Indian wife, whom Pike 
mentioned, was living in Marion County, Missouri, and 
was no doubt the first white settler in that part of the 
State. Pike wrote of him, — 

" His cattle were in fine order, but his 
corn was in a bad state of cultivation. 
About one mile above his house, on the 
west shore, is a very handsome 
hill, which he (the Frenchman) 
informed me is level on 
the top, with a gradual 
descent on either side, 
and a fountain of fine 
water. This man like- 
wise told me that two 
men had been killed on 
the Big Bay or Three 
Brothers, and he desired to be 
informed what measures had been 
taken in consequence thereof. We encamped four 
miles above his house." 

Next day the party made thirty-nine miles without 
any incident worthy of special mention, except pass- 
ing three bateaux, probably belonging to trappers and 
traders. The day following they were fired on by some 
Indians on the Illinois shore, and were driven over to 
the Missouri side. On the 19th an accident happened 




Ill 

to their boat which delayed them so that they made but 
fourteen miles that day. Next day they reached the 
Des Moines rapids and were beyond Missouri. 

The stream called by Pike the Jauflione was after- 
wards known as the Jefferion, and is now called the 
Fabius. No stream in Missouri has been known by 
more names. Some old writers call it the Geoffrion, 
and one authority is of the opinion that its original 
name was Javelot. The last is a French word signify- 
ing a spear, and doubtless the Indian name was of the 
same meaning. 

The name Fabius is said to be derived from a Spanish 
word meaning a pea or bean. When the stream was 
discovered, a great quantity of wild peas grew along 
its banks. 

In time the south fork of the stream was called the 
Little Fabba, and many old settlers in Missouri still 
speak of the two streams as the Fabbas. 

Their wooded shores became historic during the Civil 
War. They afforded hiding places for the partisan 
soldiery of the Confederate army, and many a hot 
skirmish was fought along their banks. 



XVII. 

CAPTAIN COLE. — A PLUCKY FRENCH- 
WOMAN. 

EARLY in the history of St. Charles County, prepa- 
rations were made for defense against the Indians. 
Companies of rangers were organized, and a number of 
forts were erected. 

Each of the forts was built in the form of a parallel- 
ogram, with blockhouses at the four corners, and with 
the sides consisting of log cabins and thick palisades. 
They were strong enough to resist muskets and rifles, 
but would have been small protection against artillery. 
Besides affording protection from the Indians, each fort 
became the nucleus of a little settlement, which ulti- 
mately grew into a village or thriving district. 

In 1806 or 1807, a few American families settled on 
Loutre Island. This island is in the Missouri River, 
just at the mouth of Loutre Creek, and the settlement 
on it was among the most exposed of any on the Mis- 
souri border at that time. 

In the year 1807 a band of ten Indians, Sacs and 
Pottawatomies, came from Iowa and the northern part 
of Missouri, stole seven horses belonging to the inhab- 
itants of Loutre Island, and then fled northward with 
them. Five settlers started in pursuit. They were 



U3 

William Temple Cole, Stephen Cole, James Patton, 
John Gooch, and James Murdock. 

On the evening of the second day out, the party 
came in sight of the Indians on the Salt River Prairie, 
in what is now the southern part of Ralls County. The 
white men moved forward a mile or so, and then, as 
darkness was coming on, they went into camp in a 
dense wood on the bank of Spencer Creek, intending 
to open friendly negotiations with the Indians on the 
following morning. 

Two of the men remained on guard while the others 
slept. They little dreamed that the sharp eyes of the 
Indians were upon their camp. The night was dark, 
and while they slept the savages surrounded them. 
Suddenly, the cracks of rifles and the most appalling 
yells rose on the air. W. T. Cole and Gooch were 
instantly killed. Patton was wounded, but started up 
on his knees, when a shot laid him dead on his blanket. 

Stephen Cole and Murdock seized their rifles and 
fired into the darkness. Murdock leaped through the 
thicket and dropped down under the bank of the creek, 
then crawled on hands and knees a long distance up 
the stream, and escaped. After wandering several 
days in the forest and prairie, he at last reached 
Loutre Island. 

Stephen Cole was left alone to battle with the sav- 
ages. He was a large, powerful, and very brave man. 
Two of the Indians threw themselves upon him, and 
engaged him in a hand-to-hand fight. Knocking down 
the Indian in front, Cole turned upon one that had 
wounded him in the back. Seizing his wrist, the white 

STO. OF MO. — 8 



ii4 

man wrung the knife from the Indian's hand, and drove 
it into his heart up to the hilt. 

The dying yell of the savage called the remaining 
eight Indians to the spot. In the darkness it was diffi- 
cult to tell friend from foe. The white man struck 
right and left, and inflicted some ugly wounds on his 
enemies. He succeeded in cutting his way through, 
then leaped over the bank of the creek, and, aided by 
the darkness, made his escape. Mr. Cole's wound was 
painful, but not dangerous. He traveled day and night 
through the woods, until finally Loutre Island was 
reached. 

The wounded man at once organized a company to 
go with him to the place where his companions had 
been slain. His friends tried to dissuade him from 
returning, but in vain. As soon as his wound was 
dressed, he placed himself at the head of a party of 
armed settlers, and set out for the scene of the late con- 
flict. The dead were found and buried, but the Indians 
had fled from that part of the country. 

In after years, no name was more familiar on the 
Missouri frontier than that of Captain Stephen Cole. 
It was he who, in 1812, built Cole's Fort, and it was 
for him that Cole County was named. He was killed 
by the Indians in 1824 while returning from Santa Fe, 
with which town the people in Missouri had opened a 
brisk trade. 



From its exposed position, vast territory, and sparse 
population, north Missouri suffered more from Indian 



n5 

depredations, in the early history of the Territory, than 
any other part of the country. With few exceptions, 
the Indians on the Missouri River were peaceable, even 
during the War of 1812. The northern Indians, how- 
ever, including the Sacs, Pottawatomies, and Iowas, 
made frequent incursions into the inhabited portions of 
the Territory. They would murder and plunder, and 
then, as soon as they were pursued by rangers, they 
would flee to the north. 

One of the most noted conflicts of the early Indian 
wars was at Cote Sans Dessein, a French settlement in 
what is now Callaway County, two miles below the 
mouth of the Osage River. The blockhouse was built 
on a limestone hill, six hundred yards long, in a piece 
of bottom land. The hill was a vast and isolated 
mound, and hence its name, which means a " Hill with- 
out Design," or an unaccountable hill. 

Cote Sans Dessein was once a village of considerable 
importance. Early in the War of 18 12, it was attacked 
by a large body of Indians. At the time of the attack 
the blockhouse was occupied only by a Frenchman 
named Baptiste Louis Roi, with two other men and two 
women ; but these five persons successfully resisted the 
determined siege until the rangers from St. Louis came 
to their relief. 

The Frenchmen were cool, and, being experienced 
marksmen, brought down a man at almost every shot. 
The blockhouse was easily defended, because of its 
position on the hill, and because there was little under- 
brush and few trees near by to protect the attacking 
party. While the men fired through the portholes at 



n6 



the savages, the women molded bullets and loaded guns. 
Roi was the hero of the fight, but his wife was no less 
heroic than himself. 

The Indians, knowing that there were not many in 
the defending party, tried to storm the fort. Roi dis- 
covered their design, and ordered all to withhold their 
fire until the enemv were within a few yards. Then he 
gave the order, and the guns flashed with such deadly 
effect that the savages turned about and fled down 
the hill. 

Thev next tried to burn the blockhouse. Fastening- 
combustibles on their arrows, thev shot them into the 
roof, which in a few moments was on fire. 

" I'll put it out," cried the brave Madame Roi. 
"Shoot the savages, and mind not the blazing roof." 
Seizing a bucket of water, she climbed up by means of 
an inside ladder, and extinguished the flames. The 
conflict still raged. Again and again was the roof set 
in flames by burning arrows, and as often did the heroic 
Frenchwoman extinguish them. 

But at last the supply of water was exhausted, and 
another flaming arrow had stuck in the roof. The fort 
was on fire, and the band of rangers who were expected 
from St. Louis had not yet come. Even Roi began to 
despair. 

One of the men, peering out from a porthole at this 
moment, descried the St. Louis rangers coming, but 
thev were still some distance away. The fort would be 
in ashes before they could reach it. If those flames 
could be once more extinguished, the defenders would 
be saved. Madame Roi was equal to the emergency. 



ii7 

She ran to her cupboard, and, taking from it a pan of 
milk, once more flew up the ladder and put out the 
fire. 

The yells of the disappointed savages had scarcely 
ceased to reverberate among the hills and forests, when 
the relief party burst upon them like a tornado. The 
Indians fled, and Cote Sans Dessein was saved by a 
plucky Frenchwoman. 







XVIII. 
MISSOURI RANGERS. 

THE early struggles with the Indians in Missouri 
called into existence a class of military men known 
as rangers. They were hardy and fearless, always 
ready for some daring enterprise, and willing to un- 
dergo any amount of toil and hardship to defend the 
frontier. Their discipline and manner of service dif- 
fered from those of the regular army, and most of them 
served without pay. Though they were divided into 
companies and regiments, no record has been preserved 
of their organization ; if any was made, it was de- 
stroyed when the State capitol burned, about twenty- 
five years later. 

Each ranger furnished his own horse, arms, and 
ammunition. The rations were sometimes provided at 
the expense of the general government, but often the 
men had to depend on the wild game of the forest 
for their food. As there is no record of the early 
Missouri rangers, we are dependent upon tradition for 
their history. 

In 1870, there was still living in Ralls County an 
old ranger, eighty-four years of age. His name was 
Richard Chitwood, and to him and a few others of 
his class the present generation is indebted for much 
information of those early soldiers. 



ii9 

According to Mr. Chitwood, the first regiment of 
rangers was organized and commanded by Colonel 
David Musick, of St. Louis, who was one of the first 
representatives from that county in the Territorial 
Legislature. Among his most daring men was his 
nephew, Asa, of whom many stories are told. The 
young man was foolhardy in danger, yet came through 
a score of pitched battles and hard-fought skirmishes 
unharmed. 

One day, while a small party of rangers was scout- 
ing in the woods near the Osage, some Indians were 
seen to enter a group of trees. The rangers hesitated 
to attack them, but Asa sprang from his horse and 
crawled almost to the thicket, when the Indians sud- 
denly leaped out of it, and ran toward the river. Asa 
fired his rifle at them ; then, throwing it on the ground, 
he pursued the savages to the banks of the Osage, 
with no weapon but his knife. He would even have 
followed them across the river if he had not been pre- 
vented by his companions. 

On another occasion, the rangers were engaged in 
building a line of forts on the Missouri River in the 
St. Charles district, and were using a yoke of oxen 
to draw the logs from the forest. At night the oxen 
were unyoked and allowed to graze within the circle 
of camp guards. One night while Asa was on guard, 
the oxen escaped from the camp, and strayed into 
the woods. Colonel Musick, enraged at his nephew's 
carelessness, sent him into the woods to hunt for them. 
Asa came back after a few hours, and reported that 
he had been unable to find them. 



120 

"Go back!" cried the angry colonel, "and don't 
you dare to return until you have found that yoke of 
oxen." 

Asa left the camp and went to Kentucky, where 
he remained five years. At the end of that time, he 
returned to St. Louis. The war was over, and the 
rangers had been discharged for some time. On in- 
quiry, Asa learned that the colonel lived in the town, 
so he went to his house and knocked at the door. The 
colonel answered the summons, and was astonished at 
being confronted by the deserter of five years before. 
Asa gave him a serious look, and said, — 

" I have come to tell you, Uncle Dave, that I haven't 
found the oxen." 



Another daring ranger of the time was Jerry Ball, 
who served in the same regiment as Asa did. He 
was one of the best marksmen on the frontier. His 
rifle, a long-barreled gun, was made for hunting bear, 
and it was said that he could send a bullet twice as 
far as any one else in the regiment. 

Once while he was scouting with two or three others 
on the Missouri, they discovered some Indians across 
the river. The Indians, supposing themselves at a 
safe distance, began to make defiant gestures at the 
rangers. When Jerry Ball dismounted and took aim 
at them, they shouted in derision. He fired, and 
fatally wounded one of them, whereupon the others 
fled. For this feat Jerry was called by the Indians 
"Long Shot." 



121 

Though most of the rangers were men of reckless 
daring, there was occasionally one of quite the oppo- 
site character. We are told of a certain Harmon who 
was of this sort, and who, like most cowards, was a 
great boaster. When the rangers first started on their 
campaign, he insisted on riding in front. 

Most of the rangers thought Harmon was very 
brave ; but there was one old man who declared that 
he was a most consummate coward, and that he would 
show himself to be such when they came under fire. 
Harmon boasted so much of what he would do when 
they found the Indians, that some of his companions 
became tired of it, and determined to put his courage 
to a test. 

All the company were taken into the secret except 
two or three of Harmon's most intimate friends. One 
evening after they had gone into camp, a dozen young 
men stole away unseen into the forest. Shortly after 
dark, rapid firing and deafening yells were heard on 
the right, and the sentries, running into the circle of 
light made by the camp fire, shouted, — 

" Indians ! Indians ! " 

Harmon ran. He did not stop to mount his horse, 
which had been picketed out to graze ; he did not stop 
to put on his cap, which had fallen to the ground. A 
camp dog that stood in his way was kicked aside ; and 
then the fleeing Harmon was seen to leap over logs, 
dodge under bushes, and plunge into a muddy swamp, 
sending the frightened frogs in every direction. Ac- 
cording to one of the rangers who sometimes wrote 
doggerel verse, — 



122 



And Leaped the logs, 
And scared the frogs, 

And olunefed into the water. 




Nor did Harmon stop 
there. He ran un- 
til he reached the 
|H^* nearesl fort, about 

forty miles dis- 
tant. On being 
asked where the 
others were, he 
H* ,^ answered, — 

" All killed. 
The Indians have 
killed and scalped 
every one of 
them. 1 am all 
that is left to tell 
the tale." 
The people in the fort were 
for several days in a state of 
alarm and anxiety; but this was changed 
to laughter when the company returned from a blood- 
less campaign, and related the joke that had been 
played on Harmon. The boaster was effectually cured 
of his bad habit, but never again went with the rangers. 
Quite in contrast with Harmon was a ranger known 
as Little Abe. Though twenty-four years of age, he 
was so small that he was often mistaken for a boy. 
He kept his face shaved perfectly smooth, which 



■ m 



t23 

added to liis youthful appearance. Little Abe was 
among the most daring oi the rangers, and was a fine 
marksman. He could bark a squirrel nine shots out 
oi ten, a feat which was regarded as the most diffii nil 
of all to perform. To "bark a squirrel," the rifle musl 
be aimed so that the ball will strike and shiver the bark 
of thr limb on which the animal is crouching. The 
squirrel is thrown into the air as it by an explosion, and 
is killed by the concussion. 

Another favorite bat of Little Abe's was snuffing a 
candle. This shot was always made alter night. A 
lighted candle was placed on a stump fifty yards from 
the marksman. He would then take aim offhand, and 
shoot the top of the wick off; that is, actually snuff 
the candle without extinguishing the flame. 

The rangers once started out to puisne a band of 

[ndians that had come down from the northern part oi 
the Territory. These savages had stolen a few horses, 

and then, according to their usual eusloiu, had lied bark 

toward their homes. The rangers had gone two days' 

forced march, when they ascertained that ;i party of 
[ndians had slipped back past them. When last seen, 
this party was going in the direction of John Patton's 

house, which was two or three miles from the fort. 

Patton, who was with the company, became very much 
alarmed lor his wife: and children, whom he had left al 
home. When the rangers began the pursuit, no one 
thought of any savages ^ettin<; in their rear and attack- 
ing the settlement which they had left. Now, however, 
they turned about, and hurried back as rapidly as their 
almost exhausted horses could 



124 



Ten mil'-:, from Patton's cabin, every horse excepl 
Little Abe's had ^ivcn out. He pressed on alone, 
sonic <>l the others following <>n foot. A little before 
sunset, the rangei came in sighl oi the cabin, and saw 
fifteen <>r twenty Indians not over .1 fourth <>i ;i mile 
from it. Little Abe urged his tired horse to the top oJ 
its speed. When he reached the gate, he sprang from 
the saddle, leaped into the door, and quickly told Mrs. 
Patton why he had come. 

Not dreaming oJ danger, Mrs. Patton had remained 
;it home during her husband's absence. She foas a 

brave woman. She first hastened to take her children 
to the attic, and then retained to assist in the defense, 

When Little Abe opened fire on the savages, Mrs. 
Patton took down a rifle that hung <>n the wall, gave it 

to him, and then reloaded tin- one he had emptied. 

The cabin was so neai to the tort that the firing was 
heard there, and a rescuing party was senl to drive the 

Savages away. 'I'he remarkable skill and courage of 
Little Abe enabled him to keep the Indians at bay 

until help arrived. Three Indians were found dead on 
the ground, 



XIX. 

THE CAPTIVE. 




*** 



'HERE is 

no more 

beautiful and 

irilling tale oi 

>neer days, t ban 

the story oi I [elen Patter 

son. She was horn in Kentucky; but while she was 

stl11 ;| child Ixt parents removed to St. Louis County, 

Missouri, and h\ ( - ( | f or a time in a settlement called 
("<»ld Water, which is in Si. Ferdinand township. Aboul 
the year 1808 or 1809, her father took his family to 

*25 



26 



the St. Charles district, and settled only a few miles 
from the home of the veteran backwoodsman, Daniel 
Boone. 

At the time of this last removal, Helen was about 
eighteen years of age. She was a very religious girl, 
and had been taught to believe that whatever she prayed 
for would be granted. 

Shortly after the family had settled in their new 
home, bands of prowling savages began to roam about 
the neighborhood. The Indians would plunder the 
cabins of the settlers during their absence, and drive 
away their cattle, horses, and hogs. 

One day, business called all the Patterson family to 
the village, except Helen. She was busily engaged in 
spinning, when the house was surrounded by nine 
Indians. Resistance was useless. She did not attempt 
to escape or even cry out for help ; for one of the sav- 
ages who spoke English gave her to understand that 
she would be killed if she did so. 

She was told that she must follow the Indians. They 
took such things as they could conveniently carry, and 
with their captive set off on foot through the forest, in 
a northwestern direction. The shrewd girl had brought 
a ball of yarn with her, and from this she occasionally 
broke off a bit and dropped it at the side of the path, as 
a guide to her father and friends, who she knew would 
soon be in pursuit. 

This came very near being fatal to Helen, for one of 
the Indians observed what she was doing, and raised 
his hatchet to brain her. The others interceded, but 
the ball of yarn was taken from her, and she was closely 



127 

watched lest she might resort to some other device for 
marking a trail. 

It was early in the' morning when Helen was captured. 
Her parents were expected to return to the cabin by 
noon, and she reasoned that they would be in pursuit 
before the Indians had gone very far. As the savages 
were on foot, and her father would no doubt follow 
them on horseback, he might overtake them before 
dark. The uneasiness expressed by her captors during 
the afternoon encouraged her in the belief that her 
friends were in pursuit. 

A little before sunset, two of the Indians went back 
to reconnoiter, and the other seven, with the captive, 
continued on in the forest. Shortly after sunset, the 
two Indians who had fallen behind joined the others, 
and all held a short consultation, which the white girl 
could not understand. 

The conference lasted but a few moments, and then 
the savages hastened forward with Helen to a creek, 
where the banks were sloping, and the water shallow 
enough for them to wade the stream. By the time 
they had crossed, it was quite dark. The night was 
cloudy, and distant thunder could occasionally be 
heard. 

The Indians hurried their captive to a place half a 
mile from the ford, and there tied her with strips of 
deerskin to one of the low branches of an elm. Her 
hands were extended above her head, and her wrists were 
crossed and tied so tightly that she found it impossible 
to release them. When they had secured her to their 
own satisfaction, the Indians left her, assuring her that 



128 

they were going back to the ford to shoot her father and 
his companions as they crossed it. 

Helen was almost frantic with fear and grief. Added 
to the uncertainty of her own fate was the knowledge 
that her father and friends were marching right into an 
Indian ambuscade. 

In the midst of her trouble, she did not forget her 
pious teaching. She prayed God to send down his 
angels and release her. But no angel came. In her 
distress, the rumbling thunders in the distance were 
unheard, and she' hardly noticed the shower until she 
was drenched to the skin. 

The rain thoroughly wet the strips of deerskin with 
which she was tied, and as they stretched she almost 
unconsciously slipped her hands from them. Her 
prayer had been answered by the rain. She hastily 
untied her feet, and sped away toward the creek. 
Guided by the lightning's friendly glare, she crossed 
the stream half a mile above the ford, and hastened to 
meet her father and friends. 

At every flash of lightning she strained her eyes, 
hoping to catch sight of them. At last, moving forms 
were seen in the distance, but they were too far away 
for her to determine whether they were white men or 
Indians. Crouching down at the root of a tree by the 
path, she waited until they were within a few rods of 
her, and then cried in a low voice, — 

"Father! Father!" 

"That is Helen," said Mr. Patterson. 

She bounded to her feet, and in a moment was at his 
side, telling him how she had escaped. The rescuing 



129 

party was composed of her father and two brothers, a 
neighbor named Shultz, and Nathan and Daniel M. 
Boone, sons of the great pioneer, Daniel Boone. 

She told them where the Indians were lying in am- 
bush, and the frontiersmen decided to surprise them. 
They crossed the creek on a log, and stole down to the 
ford, but the Indians were gone. No doubt the savages 
had discovered the escape of the prisoner, and, know- 
ing that their plan to surprise the white men had failed, 
became frightened and fled. 

Helen Patterson always believed it was her prayers 
that saved her father, her brothers, and herself in 
that trying hour. 




XX. 

BOONE'S SALT WORKS. 

TRANSPORTING goods to Missouri in the early 
days was very expensive, and the inhabitants 
soon learned to manufacture many of the things they 
needed. Among the earliest of their products was salt. 

Hunters, trappers, and traders who went into the 
wilderness discovered springs which were so briny that 
they could not drink the water. Deer, elk, and buffalo 
frequented these springs to lick the salt deposited 
around them. For that reason, the banks were called 
"salt licks"; and hunters used to watch these places 
for the game which came to them. 

When the first salt was made in Missouri, is not 
definitely known. Several places and several persons 
claim the honor. The early method of making salt was 
simple enough. Kettles were filled with brine, which 
was boiled until it had all evaporated, leaving only the 
salt. Early in the history of Missouri, even before the 
Spanish had transferred the country to the United 
States, salt was thus made by settlers. It was not 
until later years, however, that this became a lucrative 
business. 

In February, 1804, Ira P. Nash and two companions 
went up the Missouri River and located the first claim 

130 



i3i 



on public lands in what is now Howard County. They 
remained there almost a month, and while hunting 
discovered some springs that were rich with salt. 

The sons of Daniel Boone, Nathan and Daniel M. 
Boone, were noted for their courage and enterprise. 
They heard of the wonderful salt springs in the " upper 
country," or country up the Missouri River, and in 1806 
they set out to examine them. Arriving in what is now 
Howard County, they selected a location for salt works. 

During the summer of 1807, the Boone brothers, with 
three men named Goforth, Baldridge, and Manly, took 
a large number of kettles, and went up the Missouri 
River in boats to manufacture salt at the place which 
they had located. Being compelled to row against the 
current, their journey was slow and laborious. It was 
the more so on account of the great 
caution they were obliged 
to use in ascending the 
river, for the dark, 
muddy stream was 
filled with hidden 
snags, rocks, and - 

sand bars. \ , :''^l 

Arrived at the 
salt springs, they 
built furnaces, 
placed their kettles 
over them, and began 
making salt. The place 
was soon known as Boones 
Lick, and all the country 




132 

above Cedar Creek was called the Boones Lick country. 
It is this Cedar Creek which now forms the boundary 
line between Callaway and Boone counties ; at that time 
it was regarded as the western boundary of the district 
of St. Charles. 

Sometime about 1809, five men left St. Charles with 
their kettles in a boat, drifted down the Missouri to its 
mouth, and then ascended the Mississippi as far as the 
mouth of Salt River. They went up this stream until 
they came to a salt spring in what is now Ralls County. 
Here, at what was known as Freemores Lick, they 
built a furnace, dug a well, and began making salt. 

During the summer they were attacked by Indians, 
and compelled to leave their works. They threw their 
kettles into the well, and started for St. Charles. All 
but one were killed on the way. The man who escaped 
journeyed all the way to St. Charles through the forest 
and across the prairie without eating or sleeping until 
he reached his home. 

Boone's sons, however, were unmolested, and in the 
fall they returned to St. Charles with canoes filled with 
salt. This led others to brave the dangers of the forest 
in order to share in the new industry. The Boones, 
however, were the chief salt makers of the time. They 
were bold, and the Indians feared them more than they 
did any one else. The name their father had gained was 
enough to inspire the savages with dread of the sons. 

The explorations in the salt districts were fruitful of 
other results. The salt makers and explorers brought 
back intelligence of a beautiful country. They told of 
noble streams, grand forests, rolling prairies, and rich 



133 

soils, and kindled in the hearts of the people a desire 
to live in that far-away land. Bold pioneers pushed 
out into the wilderness, and in a short time settlements 
began to spring up all over the Boones Lick country. 

It was a large district, requiring three or four days to 
cross it on horseback, then the chief mode of travel. 
After the first settlement was made in Howard County, 
other settlers soon moved into the Boones Lick country, 
and by the year 1812 there were many small settle- 
ments here, besides a number of pioneers living at con- 
siderable distances from any of them. 

The highway which led to what afterwards became 
the town of Old Franklin was known as the Boones 
Lick road. It became the main thoroughfare, and was 
made suitable for wagons. 

At one place on this road there lived a pioneer whose 
nearest neighbor was ten miles distant. His cabin 
fronted the road, and his wife, lonely in her prairie 
home, was in the habit of hailing every passer-by, and 
asking, " What's the news ? " 

She soon became famous all over the Boones Lick 
country as the great interrogator. When the War of 
181 2 broke out, and the Missourians began to fear an 
attack from the British and Indians, her desire to learn 
the news increased. 

The most terrifying stories were told at that time, 
and were believed by some. The whole country, for 
instance, would quickly become alarmed at the report 
that Brock and Tecumseh were on their march to the 
Missouri River, with a large army of British and Indians. 

After a time, most of the frontiersmen learned to 



134 

discredit these reports ; but the old lady in the lonely 
cabin still believed everything she heard. A man who 
had been stopped repeatedly on his way to and from 
the Boones Lick salt works, and asked if there was any 
news, determined to test this woman's credulity to the 
utmost. 

The next time he rode past her house, she ran to the 
gate, as usual, and called, — 

" Stop, Mr. Sinks, what's the news of the Indians ? " 

Mr. Sinks assumed a very serious look and an- 
swered, — 

" Bad, madam, very bad. I am going to get my 
family out of the country just as soon as possible." 

" YVhv, what's the trouble ? " 

" Teeumseh and his Indians have put handspikes 
under Lake Michigan, and are going to upset it and 
drown us all." 

Wringing her hands, and shrieking in an agony of 
dread, the woman ran to the field where her husband 
was at work, and urged him to pack up and leave the 
country before they were drowned. When he learned 
what was the cause of her alarm, he declared that he 
didn't believe the Indians could upset the lake if they 
tried, and that, as he was a good swimmer, he was 
going to run the chances of getting out, if they did. 

Portions of the Boones Lick country were for a long 
time subject to the raids of the Indians. During the 
winter, the savages remained in their villages and wig- 
wams, living on the product of the summer's hunt and 
the labor of the women. But as soon as it was warm 
enousrh for them to leave their homes, thev began to 



135 

rob and murder the settlers on the frontier. In May, 
1818, a band of them from the northern part of the 
State slipped down to the Boones Lick country, and 
approached the house of a pioneer named Ramsey. 

Mrs. Ramsey was milking her cows, and was not 
aware of the presence of Indians until they fired at her. 
She dropped her milking pail and ran toward the house. 
They fired at her again, and one bullet wounded her ; 
but she managed to reach the cabin before she fell. 

Three of the children, who were in the front yard, 
were tomahawked and scalped. Mr. Ramsey was seri- 
ously wounded, but he managed to seize his rifle and 
keep the savages from the house.' 

Two of the boys escaped and gave the alarm ; and 
the frontiersmen were not slow in rallying to the rescue. 
Among those who came to the scene was the old 
pioneer, Daniel Boone. He washed and dressed the 
wounds of Mrs. Ramsey, and made the last hours of 
the dying woman as cqmfortable as possible. When 
volunteers set out after the Indians, his eyes flashed 
with the same fire that had inspired him in his younger 
days, and he said, — 

" I should like to go with you, boys, but I am no 
account any more." 

The Indians were overtaken, four of them killed, and 
several wounded. Mrs. Ramsey died from her injuries, 
and was buried by the side of her children who had 
been killed on the day that she received her wounds. 



XXI. 1 
COOPER AND CALLAWAY. 

AS said before, the Boones Lick country was settled 
soon after its exploration. The first to make his 
home there was Colonel Benjamin Cooper. 

With his wife and five sons, this pioneer came from 
Madison County, Kentucky, and in 1808 built a cabin 
near Boones Lick. Their immigration, like that of 
many other families, was a result of the search for salt, 
which was being industriously carried on. They had 
heard the stories about fertile soil, great forests, and 
abundant game, and were induced by them to brave all 
dangers and become the first settlers of what is now 
Howard County. 

Colonel Cooper's location was so far beyond any 
other settlement, that he and his family were in great 
danger from the Indians. For this reason the governor 
of the Territory ordered him to live somewhere below 
the Gasconade River until he could be assured of some 
protection in his new home. The colonel obeyed the 
order, and moved to Loutre Island, where he remained 
for more than a year. In February, 18 10, a number of 
other emigrants from Madison County, Kentucky, came 

1 The material for this chapter is partly from Col. \V. F. Switzler's 
" History of Missouri." 

136 



137 

to this same place, looking for homes in the new 
Territory. Cooper at once began to praise the Boones 
Lick country, and before the month was out he had 
induced a band of the sturdy pioneers to accompany 
him and his family to this much-desired locality. They 
traveled through a trackless forest, on the north side of 
the Missouri River, and safely reached their destination 
in March. The wives of the new immigrants did not 
arrive until August. 

It did not take long for the settlers to build their 
cabin homes and clear enough land for cultivation ; 
but the hostile Indians were a constant menace to the 
prosperity of the settlement. The Pottawatomies, who 
were the great horse thieves of the frontier, made fre- 
quent raids upon the Boones Lick country. In addition 
to this, the more warlike Iowas, Foxes, and Kickapoos 
threatened the lives of the settlers. For several years 
the little band of whites were obliged to rely wholly on 
themselves for protection; and in 1812 they built five 
forts. These were Cooper's Fort, Kinkaid's Fort, Fort 
Hempstead, Fort Head, and Cole's Fort. The tour fust 
named were all within what is now Howard County; but 
Cole's Fort was on the south side of the river, not far 
from where Boonville now stands. It was built and com- 
manded by Stephen Cole, who, with Hannah Cole and 
their families, was the first to settle in Cooper County. 

The settlers' cornfields were cultivated in common, 
and were near these strongholds. Sentinels were kept 
around the fields while the men were at work in them. 
At the first sign of danger, horns were blown, and all 
the people ran to the forts, where they were sale from 



$8 

attac ts. In spite ad bravei j . 

... . s, at diffe 

ere s the savages 

x st j Sarshe 

s sitting in his er's Fort 1 lis 

his ther children 
him A-.- Indian, 
mowing 

kill him, 
i, the savage < tain 

fort 
aking a 

- gun, he t< v 
! 
man i lis assass led to 

the - - s perished the man for 

as 



In til s ! s Masse 

[slar are he had settled in 

with his to what was called 

sed some land of Colon* 
Nathan sse the 

.... str< s s S 

small field - uth side l v ::> 

the sit age oi Mineola ^ v -. 

we::: u] a Creek t t v. 

signs its hich he had . - 

set his son 
Harris > the fie Id. 



139 

"Carry your rifle on your back, while at work,' 
said Mr. Massey, "and if you see an Indian, shoot 
him and run to the house/' The boy slung his gun 
across his shoulder by a strap, and began plowing. 

But the gun was heavy, and after a while he set it 
against a tn 

About ten in the morning, a band oi Sac [ndians 
slyly came down Sallies Branch, and, crawling under 
the bank, approached within a hundred yards oi the 
boy at work in the field. They shot him, and then ran 
up and scalped him. 

From the cabin door, the mother and sister witne i 
this terrible <\^A. Ann Massey, the oldest daughter, 
seized the dinner horn and blew such a blast that the 
Indians, fearing that the signal was lor a band of white 
men, became alarmed and fled. Mr. Massey heard the 
firing and the dinner horn, and hastened home. The 
Indians had left the horses, and upon these he mounted 
his family, and set out at once for Fort Clemison, eigh- 
teen miles away. From that post, a party went to Mr. 
Massey's house and buried the dead boy. 

On March 6, 1815, a band of seventy-five or eighty 
Sac and Fox Indians came down from the northern 
part of the Territory, and stole a dozen or more horses 
that were grazing on the mainland near Loutre Island. 
They hurried away, and succeeded in escaping with 
their stolen property up Loutre Creek. Captain James 
I Lllaway, with fifteen rangers, set out at once after the 
thieves. On the second day, they came upon a fresh 
trail left by the Indians. Rapidly following it, about 
two o'clock in the afternoon they came upon the camp, 



140 

where they found the stolen horses, guarded by a few 
squaws. All the men were absent, and at sight of the 
rangers the Indian women fled. Captain Callaway did 
not pursue them, but collected the horses and started 
with them toward Loutre Island. 

Lieutenant Jonathan Riggs, of the rangers, was an 
old Indian fighter, and a man of caution and judgment. 
His suspicions were aroused by the disappearance of 
the savages. He thought that they had dispersed in 
order to mislead the white men, and that they would 
make a circuit in front of them and form an ambuscade 
into which the rangers would fall. He advised his 
companions to go back by another route. 

Captain Callaway was a dauntless fellow, and merely 
laughed at his friend's fears. He believed that the 
Indians had left the country, and that the rangers 
would see no more of them. Accordingly, the white 
men kept on their course. 

They had reached the crossing at Prairie Fork, a 
hundred yards or more from Loutre Creek, when a 
terrible volley was poured into them from in front. It 
seemed as if the grass and bushes were on fire. Parker 
Hutchings, Frank McDermit, and James McMillin, who 
were about a hundred yards in advance with the recap- 
tured horses, were all three instantly killed by the first 
volley. 

Captain Callaway and the remaining rangers charged 
forward and plunged into the fight. They were met 
by a murderous fire from an ambushed foe concealed 
in the timber on the hill and in front. Captain Calla- 
way's horse was killed under him,' and he himself 



I4i 

received a shot in his left arm. Another bullet struck 
his watch, but the timepiece turned it aside. Leaping 
from his dead horse, the brave captain shouted, — 

" Cross the creek, charge them, and fight to the 
death!" 

His men dashed forward and plunged into the creek. 
He followed them, and all were soon in the stream, which 



>' t/^%-- ;:*£fS\ W&hn : 1^- 



4^ 





$ h 







was swollen to a considerable size \ by the melting 
snow. The water was intensely coLd. Captain Calla- 
way's wounded arm was useless, and he was compelled 
to swim with but one hand. When his men gained the 
other shore, they looked back and saw him drifting 
down the stream. Just then an Indian leveled a gun 
at him. and shot him in the back of the head. The 



142 

white men saw him disappear under the water, and 
then turned again toward their hidden foes. 

Lieutenant Riggs and the rangers fought valiantly, 
but the Indians outnumbered them five to one, and 
were all good marksmen. From the tall grass, behind 
trees and logs, they continued to shoot the white men, 
who could scarce see an enemy. The lieutenant at last 
ordered a retreat, after six of the rangers had fallen 
in the fierce conflict. The remainder recrossed Prairie 
Fork, and going a mile above crossed again without 
meeting any opposition. 

Next morning they succeeded in reaching the island. 
Nearly every man was more or less wounded, and every 
horse had been struck by a bullet. The horses of the 
settlers were lost. Only one Indian was found dead on 
the battle ground, and he was buried on the prairie, 
near the present village of Wellsville. 

The white men who had been slain in the conflict 
were searched out and buried. It was several days 
before the body of Captain Callaway was found, but it 
was at last discovered, caught by a bush in the stream, 
several hundred yards below the spot where he had 
been killed. The body was wrapped in blankets and 
buried on the side of a steep hill sloping down to 
Loutre Creek, and across the head of the grave was 
laid a flat slab, on which was engraved : • " Captain 
James Callaway, March 7, 181 5." 

Callaway County was named in honor of this gallant 
captain of rangers. 



XXII. 
THE EARTHQUAKE AT NEW MADRID. 

NEW MADRID was among the first settlements in 
Missouri. Though it was prosperous as a busi- 
ness village and trading post, its inhabitants were noted 
for their impiety. All the worst elements of a fron- 
tier river town were to be found here in this place. 
The residents formed a mixed class of society made up 
of various races and nationalities, — English, Spanish, 
French, Indians, and negroes. Their visitors were 
boatmen, hunters, trappers, and gamblers. All this 
went to make New Madrid what on the frontier was 
called "a tough place." 

History says but little about the town prior to the 
earthquake, and that little is not to its credit. It is 
spoken of as the favorite resort of boatmen, who spent 
"their Sabbaths in drinking, gambling, and fighting." 
Priest and preacher went unheard, or if they were 
listened to at all, it was with the utmost indifference. 

On December 16, 1811, many of the settlers of 
New Madrid observed that the atmosphere had a 
strange, murky appearance. Strange phenomena were 
not unusual on the frontier, and no one felt any great 
uneasiness at this, although some declared that the air 
was filled with the odor of sulphur. 

143 



144 

Evening came, and many of the inhabitants retired 
for the night. Some of the houses were closed and 
dark, while in others there gleamed lights from tallow 
candles. There were a number of keel boats tied up 
along the shore. Some of them were bound for the 
lower country, and some were on their return trip. 
Masters and crews of the boats were spending the 
evening in drinking and gambling. 

Near ten o'clock at night, there came a low rumbling 
of subterranean thunder which startled even those who 
were in deep sleep. Then came the first great shock 
and crash of the earthquake. Houses trembled, and 
people ran shrieking into the streets. Lights in the 
houses were extinguished, and as the night was cloudy, 
it was intensely dark. 

A few seconds later there came a second shock, 
more terrible than the first. This shock, according 
to eyewitnesses, was " an undulating movement " ; a 
moving up and down like the billows of the sea. 
Houses rocked, trees waved together, and the ground 
sank; while occasionally vivid flashes of lightning 
gleamed through the troubled clouds, rendering the 
darkness doubly horrible. 

The shocks of this earthquake are said to have 
equaled in violence anything ever before known. The 
loss of life was not so great as might have been ex- 
pected, for the country was thinly populated, and the 
log houses, being low, were not easily overturned. 

Vast tracts of land were plunged into the Mississippi 
River. The graveyard at New Madrid, with all its 
sleeping dead, sank into the stream. Large lakes, 



H5 

many miles in extent, were made in a single hour, 
while others were drained in the same time. The 
whole country from the mouth of the Ohio in one 
direction, and to the St. Francis in another, was con- 
vulsed to such a degree as to create lakes and islands. 

Trees split in the middle, lashed one with another, 
and tangled and matted, inclined in every direction 
and at every angle. The undulations of the earth's 
surface were said to resemble the waves of the ocean, 
and they increased in elevation until the earth burst at 
the highest point, and great volumes of water, sand, 
and pit coal were discharged. Great fissures were 
formed where the earth had burst, and hundreds of 
them, some of considerable depth, still remained many 
years after. 

Large districts were covered with white sand, which 
destroyed their value for agricultural purposes. Nearly 
the whole country, particularly that part called Little 
Prairie, was flooded with water. Through the forests, 
and in the gloom of darkest night, people fled in water 
up to their waists, while concussions occurring every 
few hours appalled all living creatures. Even the 
birds lost all power or disposition to fly, and sought 
the protection of their fellow-sufferers. As the people 
fled through forest and darkness, a person would oc- 
casionally sink into one of the chasms made by the 
earthquake, but the cries of the unfortunate brought 
help at once, and all who stumbled into these holes 
were rescued. 

The force of the earthquake was much more de- 
structive on the river than on the land. The upheaval 

STO. OF MO. — IO 



146 

of the river bed caused a tidal wave which for a 
moment changed the current of the stream. But it 
was only for a moment ; then the waters rushed into 
the abyss with fearful velocity. Boats were caught 
in the eddying, whirling waters and destroyed, while 
others were thrown high and dry upon the land and 
left there. 

An eyewitness of the terrible scene says, — 

"The general impulse of the people when the shocks 
commenced was to fly. When the convulsions of the 
earth were most severe, the people were thrown down 
at almost every step. In the midst of those scenes 
of terror, all — Catholics and Protestants, praying and 
profane — became of one religion, and partook of one 
feeling. Two hundred people, speaking English, 
French, and Spanish, crowded together, with pale 
visages and trembling forms. Mothers clasped their 
children to their breasts, and as soon as they could 
speak, all began to invoke aid from God. Even the 
poor, terrified horses and cattle crowded about the 
people for protection." 

" I was in the house with my family," one man said 
in describing the terrible night. " Some of the children 
had retired, but my wife was still spinning, and I was 
reading a book. The first shock, which was preceded 
by a low rumbling sound like thunder in the bowels of 
the earth, threw us to the floor. Fortunately our house 
was not thrown down. 

" ' God save us, what is it ? ' cried my wife. 

" ' An earthquake. Let us fly ! ' I answered. 

" All the children save the infant were awakened by 



H7 



the first shock, and with one impulse 
we ran toward the door. I 
opened the door, and 
we tumbled into the 
street, where scores 
of others, screaming 
and wringing their 
hands, were assem- 
bling. 

" 'The babe ! have 
you got the baby ? ' 
asked my wife. 

" Then, to my hor- 
ror, I discovered that 
our helpless infant had 
been left in the house. I de- 
termined to rescue it, or die in 
the effort. 

" At this moment the second shock came 
rific than the first. We were all thrown on the ground. 
It was so dark that we could see only when the pale, 
sickly flashes of lightning illuminated the sc%ne. One 
of these flashes followed, or rather accompanied, the 
second shock, and by aid of it I saw the people all 
prostrated on the ground. 

" Assisting my wife to rise, I said, — 

" ' Stay here with the children. Do not leave on any 
account, and I will go and fetch the baby ! ' My wife 
promised to obey, and I started toward the house. The 
earth was still shaking. I cannot describe the sensa- 
tions I experienced at that time. It was as if I stood 




more ter- 



148 

upon something that swayed from side to side, and 
sank and rose with irregular motions. 

" I was thrown down twelve times trying to mount 
the piazza in front of my dwelling. At last I clutched 
the steps and crawled into the house, where the cries of 
the affrighted child could be heard. I seized it, and 
after many efforts succeeded in rejoining my wife. We 
sought a high, open spot of ground, and remained there 
until morning, which it seemed to us would never come. 
" When morning dawned, no sun shone on us to glad- 
den our hearts. A dense vapor arose from the seams 
of the earth, and hid it from view." 

Little Prairie, which suffered most, contained one 
hundred families located in a very deep, fertile bottom. 
Here the earth was torn and rent by the throes of the 
earthquake, and some places were covered to a depth 
of two feet with sand. In the first paroxysm of fear, 
the settlers sought to escape to the hills. The depth 
of water, however, soon cut off their flight in that direc- 
tion, and there was nothing to do but wait for the dawn 
of day before making any other effort to escape. When 
the danger was all over, every family in the settlement, 
except two, abandoned their homes and moved away. 

The cattle and harvest at Little Prairie and New 
Madrid were nearly all destroyed. The people no 
longer dared live in houses, so they passed this winter 
and the succeeding one in bark wigwams and camps, like 
the Indians'. These were so light that if thrown down 
they would injure no one. A number of boats loaded 
with provisions were wrecked on the Mississippi above 
New Madrid, and their cargoes were driven down by 



149 

the eddy into the mouth of the bayou which makes the 
harbor at the village. This accident to the boats was 
the salvation of the homeless villagers. Flour, beef, 
pork, bacon, butter, cheese, apples, in short everything 
that was carried down the river, floated to their ruined 
hamlet. The owners of boats that came safely into the 
bayou were so frightened that they disposed of their 
cargoes at nominal prices, rather than venture further 
down the stream. 

Navigation on the Mississippi became exceedingly 
perilous. So changed was the river, that the oldest 
pilots were no longer acquainted with it. For two 
months, shocks continued almost daily, though no 
others were so severe as the two on the night of 
December 16. The inhabitants of New Madrid thought 
that the whole country below them had sunk. A great 
many islands in the river did sink, and new ones were 
raised, and the bed of the river was much changed 
in every respect. 

After the earthquake, the country about New Madrid 
exhibited a melancholy aspect. There were great 
chasms at intervals of half or quarter of a mile, while 
the intervening space was covered with white sand. 
Trees torn up and strewn over the ground, or split in 
the middle as if riven by lightning, were to be seen for 
many miles. Congress enacted laws permitting the in- 
habitants of the earthquake district to locate the same 
amount of lands in other parts of the Territory. Cer- 
tificates of claims were given to each head of a family 
who lived in the ruined district. But the inhabitants 
were mostly ignorant backwoodsmen, and shrewd and 



iSo 

unscrupulous speculators cheated them out of their 
claims, so that they never received any substantial 
benefit from the law. 

A gentleman who formerly lived in New Madrid 
visited it seven years after the earthquake, and wrote, — 

" When I resided there, this district, formerly so 
level, rich, and beautiful, had the most melancholy of 
all aspects of decay — the tokens of former cultivation 
and inhabitancy, which were now mementos of desola- 
tion and desertion. Large and beautiful orchards left 
uninclosed, houses deserted, and deep chasms in the 
earth were obvious at frequent intervals. Such was 
the face of the country, although the people had for 
years become so accustomed to the frequent small 
shocks, which did no essential injury, that the lands 
were gradually rising in value, and New Madrid was 
slowly rebuilding with frail buildings, adapted to the 
apprehensions of the people." 

Missouri has never since been visited by a disastrous 
earthquake, and the dread awakened by the convulsions 
at New Madrid is no longer felt. 



XXIII. 
MISSOURI TERRITORY. 

THE region which we call Missouri was never known 
by this name until the year 1812. Before that 
time, it was known as a part of Louisiana, the Illinois 
District, Upper Louisiana, the District of Louisiana, 
and the Territory of Louisiana. No State has had 
more names or has changed owners more times. In 
18 1 2, it did not become the State of Missouri, but the 
Territory of Missouri. The Territory comprised a con- 
siderable part of Arkansas, but, on the other hand, the 
northern and western parts of the present State were 
occupied and owned by the Indians. 

So many changes in rulers, names, and boundaries 
were the cause of many amusing incidents. One gentle- 
man traveling through the Territory met another from 
the Boones Lick country, and asked him where he 
lived ; and the latter replied, — 

" I lived in the Illinois District yesterday, but we 
change names and rulers so often that I would not ven- 
ture to say where I live now, or to what country I 
belong." 

On June 4, 1812, Missouri Territory was organized 
by Congress, with a governor, a legislative council, and 
a house of representatives. The governor was appointed 

15* 



152 

by the President of the United States, and had the 
power of absolute veto. Only one man was ever 
appointed to the office — William Clark, one of the 
commanders of the Lewis and Clark expedition. His 
term as governor did not begin till 1813, but it lasted 
until Missouri became a State, in 1821. In organizing 
the Territory of Missouri, it was divided into five coun- 
ties : St. Charles, St. Louis, Ste. Genevieve, Cape Girar- 
deau, and New Madrid. Each of these counties elected 
members to the Territorial House of Representatives, and 
together they sent one delegate to Congress. The Legis- 
lative Council was composed of nine men, selected by 
the President from a list of eighteen who were chosen 
by the House of Representatives. 

The capital of Missouri was St. Louis, and here, in 
due course, her first Territorial Legislature met. The 
members were, for the most part, men with little or no 
experience in lawmaking. It is said that when they 
had assembled, one member arose and asked, — 

"What did we come here for? " 

If the members were ignorant of their duties, the 
people were still more so. 

" What's that crowd doing ? " asked a hunter who 
had just entered the city. 

" That's the Legislature." 

" What's a Legislature ? " 

It was explained to him that a Legislature was an 
assembly of men who met to make laws for the people. 

"We don't want any laws," declared the hunter. 
"We won't have any laws, and the best thing we can 
do is to drive the Legislature out of town." 



153 

But the suggestion did not meet with favor, and the 
legislators were permitted to continue their business 
uninterrupted. They proceeded first to enact a law 
regulating a system of weights and measures. They 
created the office of sheriff in each county, and en- 
acted a law for taking the census of the Territory. 
Permanent seats of justice, or county seats, were 
located, and provision was made for the compensation 
of all Territorial and county officers. 

Laws were passed prohibiting crimes, and providing 
for the punishment of the offenders. Among the 
early acts, also, was the granting of a charter to the 
first bank in Missouri — the Bank of St. Louis. 

People soon began to appreciate the work of the 
lawmakers, and there was a remarkable change for 
the better in the morals of the inhabitants. At the 
second session of the Legislature, laws were enacted to 
regulate elections, and to suppress vice and immorality 
on the Sabbath. The offices of Territorial treasurer, 
auditor, and county surveyor were established, and laws 
were passed for the improvement of public roads. 

The Territory filled up rapidly, and new counties 
were soon formed. 

In 1 8 16-17, among other acts of the Legislature, was 
one to encourage the " killing of wolves, panthers, and 
wild cats." A reward of five dollars was offered for 
the scalp of every one of these animals that was killed. 
The scalp was the skin on the top of the head, includ- 
ing the two ears. Scalps were taken to the clerks of 
the county courts, who gave an order on the treasury 
for five dollars for each one. 



154 

This law met with great favor among hunters and 
trappers. They concluded that lawmakers were of 
some use after all, and there was no more talk of 
running them out of town. Through all the various 
changes of State government since the early days of 
Missouri, the "wolf-scalp law," as it is known, has 
remained on the statute books, subject to only slight 
modifications. 

For some time after the formation of the Territory, 
the Boones Lick country attracted more immigrants 
than did any other part of Missouri. The town now 
known as Old Franklin, situated two miles from the 
present town of Franklin, was laid out in 1816, in 
what was called Coopers Bottom, opposite the present 
city of Boonville. 

Franklin, being in the center of the salt-making 
district, soon became a thrifty village. About this 
time a brisk trade between Missouri and Santa Fe, 
New Mexico, was opened up. It consisted of an 
exchange of furs, salt, and the other products of Mis- 
souri, for coffee, silver, and wool. The trade was 
known as the Santa Fe trade, and the route pursued 
by the traders was for many years called the old Santa 
Fe trail. 

At first the goods were carried across the country 
on the backs of pack horses and mules, but after a 
time wagons were used in place of them. These 
wagons, because of their sloping beds, and great 
white covers, were called " prairie schooners," and 
they were usually drawn by eight or ten horses or 
oxen. 



155 



The Santa Fe trade was attended with great toil 
and danger, so the traders usually traveled in large 
wagon trains for mutual protection. Sometimes one 
train contained as many as fifty wagons. Before start- 
ing on one of these journeys, officers were elected, 
and every one was obliged to obey them. There was 
a captain of the wagon train, who had supreme com- 
mand. Then there was a wagon master, who had 
control of all the wagons, and who had authority to 







condemn or abandon any, if the safety of the train 
required it. A guide was employed who possessed 
a perfect knowledge of the trail, and of the Indians 
through whose country it passed, or with whom the 
party was liable to come into contact. 

Franklin was the starting point for these fleets of 
prairie schooners. The increase of this town in wealth 
and commerce during the" brisk days of the Santa Fe 
trade, and of the Boones Lick salt works, was wonder- 
ful. It was here that the first newspaper west of St. 



i 5 6 

Louis was established. It was started by Nathaniel 
Patton in April, 1819, and was called the Missouri 
Intelligencer. 

In May, 1819, the steamboat "Independence," com- 
manded by Captain Nelson, left St. Louis and began 
the first trip ever made by any steamer on the Mis- 
souri River. As it entered the turbid waters of the 
great stream, all the passengers on board felt that 
this trial trip was not without danger. 

The large paddle wheels sent the waves with great 
force against the sandy banks. Occasionally a rush- 
ing sound was heard, a violent splash, and great masses 
of the sandy bank would fall into the stream. To the 
timid and inexperienced, this was a dangerous sign ; 
but the brave captain steadily held his course, and at 
the end of twelve days reached the village of Franklin, 
his destination. 

All the town turned out to greet the arrival of the 
first steamboat at Franklin. But this was only the 
beginning of navigation on the Missouri, and until 
railroads supplanted water transportation, the Missouri 
River was the great thoroughfare by which the interior 
of the State was reached. 



XXIV. 
FANATICAL PILGRIMS. 

AMONG the many curious people who settled in Mis- 
souri during the Territorial days, was a class of 
religious fanatics known in history as the Fanatical 
Pilgrims. They came to Missouri in the year 1817, 
and for some time their influence was strongly felt in 
that part of the Territory in which they had settled. 

This strange society was heard of first in Lower 
Canada. A few enthusiastic people began to discuss 
the deadness and unworthiness of all religious bodies, 
and grew anxious to separate themselves from all church 
organizations, in order to form a more perfect society. 
Others soon caught the enthusiasm, and hastened to 
join the new movement. 

What induced these people to start out on a pilgrim- 
age to the southwest is not positively known. Some 
think that it came about by misinterpreting the text, 
"sell whatsoever thou hast, give to the poor, . . . and 
follow me." However that may be, they sold their 
earthly possessions, or put them into a common stock, 
and began their pilgrimage. 

They had a leader whom they called their prophet. 
Whether he was an impostor or was insane, it is impos- 
sible to determine. They traveled through Vermont 

*57 



i 5 8 

and New York, gathering recruits all along their route. 
When questioned as to where they were going, they 
declared that there was a New Jerusalem far to the 
southwest, and that they were journeying there to make 
it their home. 

They arrived at New Madrid in boats, and walked 
ashore in Indian file ; the old men in front, and the 
women and children in the rear. As they walked, 
they chanted a kind of a hymn, the burden of which 
was, — 

" Praise God ! Praise God ! " 

At New Madrid they stopped and organized their 
society. They had about eight or ten thousand dollars' 
worth of property, which was held in common. The 
prophet was their ruler, spiritual and temporal. He had 
visions at night, which he expounded in the morning, 
and by these he determined whether they should stop 
or go on, whether the journey should be by land or 
water, — in short, everything was settled by immediate 
inspiration. 

Their food was mush and milk prepared in a trough ; 
and it is said that they stood up in rows by it, and 
sucked what they wanted through hollow reeds or 
perforated cornstalks. They imposed terrible penalties 
on those violating the law of God, as they interpreted 
it. In some respects they were very much like the 
Mormons, who followed about two decades later ; but 
they differed from the later sect in being indolent and 
filthy, for the Mormons were usually clean and indus- 
trious. Among other peculiarities, the Fanatical Pil- 
grims affected a ragged dress in which were dif- 



159 



ferent stripes, like those of the convicts in peniten- 
tiaries. They also wore caps made of the same striped 
material. 

So formidable a band of ragged pilgrims, marching 
in perfect order and chanting with a peculiar twang the 
short phrase, " Praise God ! Praise God ! " had in it 
something imposing to people like those in Missouri. 



/ 



it 






















1 y^ 



Especially was this the case in New Madrid, where the 
inhabitants had not yet recovered from the unnatural 
dread occasioned by the earthquake. The coming of 
this strange company into a house caused the people 
a thrill of alarm. Food lost its savor while they 
were calling upon the inhabitants, standing with eyes 
turned upward, as motionless as statues, and chant- 
ing,— 



i6o 

"Praise God! Fast and pray!" Small children 
cried with fright at sight of these people, and hid them- 
selves from view. 

At New Madrid, two of the most distinguished pil- 
grims determined to leave the band. Their intentions 
were found out, and they were placed in confinement 
under a guard ; but at last they succeeded in making 
their escape. One of them was an accomplished lady, 
whose overwrought imagination had been carried away 
by the imposing rites of the pilgrims.; and soon after 
her escape she died from the starvation and hardships 
she had endured while with them. 

The band finally settled on Pilgrims Island, opposite 
Little Prairie, where they remained a long time. Here 
the most senseless, useless, and wicked rites were prac- 
ticed. In accordance with his own interpretation of the 
text, " Let the dead bury their dead," the prophet re- 
fused to allow his people to make any burials, and the 
bones of the dead pilgrims were left to bleach in the sun. 

This sect, which at one time numbered hundreds, 
finally began to dwindle away. Evil-minded boatmen 
landed on the island and robbed them, for their religion 
would not permit them to defend themselves. Many 
made their escape from the island, and scattered over 
the southern part of Missouri, wiser and better people. 

The sheriff of New Madrid was once informed that 
there were children among these fanatics, starving for 
want of food ; so he loaded a boat with provisions, and 
set out for the island with three or four deputies. 

On reaching the place he was met by the tall, gaunt 
prophet, hollow-eyed, and staring like a lunatic. 



i6i 

"Who are ye ? " he demanded. 

"I am the sheriff of New Madrid." 

" What seek ye here ? This is the land of the holy, 
and we have no need of sheriffs." 

The officer then explained that he had brought a boat 
load of provisions for the starving children. At this in- 
telligence, the little ones, to the number of two or three 
score, began to press forward, eager to get the food. 
It was a sad sight. Their little faces were pinched 
with hunger, and their forms were so emaciated that 
they were like living skeletons. 

When the prophet learned the mission of the sheriff, 
he cried, — 

" Away with your food. We are commanded to fast 
and pray ! " 

He shrieked, and waved his long, bony arms in the 
air ; and his gaunt form looked so like a specter that 
for a moment the sheriff was filled with awe. But the 
sight of the starving children, crowding forward and 
begging for bread, aroused the officer to a sense of his 
duty. He started toward the prophet, saying, — 

" I have come with food for the children. It is my 
duty to give it to them, and you must not interfere." 

Turning to the little ones, the prophet cried, — 

"Take no food!" In such awe was this man held, 
that the starving children shrank away from the food 
which they were craving. 

"You shall not starve those children," declared the 
sheriff. 

" Better that their bodies perish than that their souls 
should be cast into hell fire." 

STO. OF MO. — I I 



162 

The sheriff, finding explanation and reasoning use- 
less, determined to resort to force. 

" I have brought the children something to eat, and I 
shall give it to them," he declared. " Do not hinder 
me." 

He then ordered the men to bring the food on shore 
and distribute it among the little ones. The prophet 
gave utterance to a wild cry, and a dozen of his fol- 
lowers, gaunt, ragged, and haggard as himself, came to 
his side. 

The sheriff drew his sword, and, advancing toward 
them, cried, — 

" Stand back, insane wretches ! I shall feed those 
children, if I have to kill you." 

The gleam of his sword, the flash of his determined 
eye, and his threatening manner frightened the prophet 
and his followers. They fell back, and the children 
pressed forward and ravenously devoured the food 
which had been brought for them. 

The older people could be induced to eat but little, 
for the prophet declared that God's wrath would fall 
upon all who touched the food. 

Many of the pilgrims, cured of their fanaticism, left 
the island and settled in various parts of Missouri. 
Dwindled to an insignificant number, the band finally 
removed to Arkansas, where their leaders died ; and 
the remainder soon gave up the folly of such a life, and 
became more sensible and consistent Christians. 



XXV. 

THE EARLY LAWYER. 

OUTSIDE of the towns, some of which were 
rapidly becoming cities, there was very little liti- 
gation in Missouri during the Territorial days. In the 
first place, property was seldom valuable enough to go to 
law about ; and, besides this, there was a rude honesty 
and sense of justice among the pioneers, which impelled 
them to obey the golden rule. 

Their differences were settled more frequently by 
arbitration than by law. The plan of arbitration was 
very simple. Each party would choose a neighbor, and 
these two would choose a third ; the committee of three 
would meet, hear both sides, and then go to a log and 
sit down to discuss the question in dispute. When a 
decision was reached, they called the interested parties 
and announced their award, — generally more just than 
the decision of a court, — and the parties usually 
accepted it in silence. 

If, however, they were still disposed to disagree and 
be unneighborly, some of the pioneers would get them 
together and lecture them on the " unreasonableness of 
their differences," and the bad effect it had on the " set- 
tlement ; " and often the parties would be thus induced 
to "make up." When they " made up," they shook 

163 



i6 4 

hands in the presence of the committee, and such a 
settlement was usually lasting. 

Some of the early justices of the peace, or magis- 
trates, and even judges of the circuit courts were very 
ignorant of the law. Their decisions were based on 
their ideas of justice and their strong common sense. 
Many amusing stories are told of these early magis- 
trates, which illustrate the character of the early in- 
habitants of the State, as well as that of their judicial 
proceedings. 

A man named Brown, a blacksmith by trade, was 
elected justice of the peace. He was a man of some 
qualifications, as he was able to write, and could read 
fairly well in the New Testament, the only book he 
had ; but Brown knew nothing of law, or of legal 
proceedings. 

The first case that he had was a difficult one. A 
man named Nelson came to him and complained of 
being robbed. Mr. Nelson knew the thief, but to 
recover the property was impossible, as it had been 
destroyed. Nelson had a neighbor named Evans. Mr. 
Evans had a dog named Tray, and this dog was the 
thief that had robbed Mr. Nelson. During the silent 
hours of the night, Tray, with malice aforethought, 
had entered Mr. Nelson's smokehouse and had stolen 
and carried away three bacon hams. 

Mr. Evans, the owner of Tray, had no part in the 
theft, as he was sound asleep, and so, of course, he 
was not responsible. After giving the matter due 
consideration, and consulting with disinterested parties, 
the new magistrate issued a warrant for Tray. The 



i6 5 

constable arrested the dog, and brought him before 
the magistrate. The blacksmith's shop was converted 
into a court of justice. 

As the defendant was unable to speak for himself, 
the magistrate ordered the constable to summon a 
jury to try the case. The jury was duly impaneled 
and sworn, and a number of witnesses were then 
examined. The testimony brought out against Tray 
was very damaging. 

All the while the defendant lay stretched out on 
the bare earth, his nose between his fore paws, per- 
fectly unconcerned. The jury were an hour making 
their verdict. The decision was that the dog should 
be whipped. 

"But how about the costs?" asked the magistrate. 
"The constable is to pay the costs," answered the 
foreman of the jury, gravely. The constable objected, 
but no appeal was taken, and, as no one knew how 
much the costs were, they were never collected. Poor 
Tray was tied to a tree, and received the full penalty 
of the sentence ; but it is certain that he never knew 
why he got that flogging. 



Dr. Willis P. King, in his " Stories of a Country 
Doctor," relates an incident which illustrates some of 
the characteristics of these early justices. 

" In the ' good old days,' a case was being tried 
before a justice of the peace. The litigants had had 
difficulties growing out of the close proximity of their 
farms. Cross fences, breachy cattle, and other such 



1 66 

matters had finally brought them into court to settle 
their disputes. They were very bitter against each 
other, and as the trial progressed they grew more 
and more so, until at last they began to hurl invectives 
at each other right before the seat of justice. Finally 
they began to 'talk fight ' and one of them said, — 

" ■ If you can whip me, you can settle this your own 
way.' 

" The other responded with a like statement, and at 
it they went. They were soon down on the floor, 
rolling and tumbling, biting and gouging, after the 
fashion of those days. The jury arose to their feet, 
and everything was excitement and confusion. Several 
men shouted, — 

" ' Don't let 'em fight ! Part 'em ! Part 'em ! ' 

"The justice sprang into the midst of the surging 
crowd, but instead of ' commanding the peace,' as 
was his duty, yelled out, — 

" ' Let 'em alone, men ; let 'em fight it out ; if they 
can settle it that way, it will save the costs.' ' 

For judicial purposes, the Territory was divided into 
judicial circuits, just as it is to-day. The circuits of 
that time were very extensive. A county was about 
as large then as a Congressional district is now, but 
it required several counties to make a circuit. Men 
having business in court were sometimes compelled 
to travel from thirty to one hundred miles to reach 
the place where the judge was to sit. 

Travel was nearly altogether on horseback. Judge 
and lawyers went together from town to town, or " rode 
the circuit," as it was called. Their journeys were 



1 67 

often through vast forests, or across prairies with only 
a bridle path to follow. Their books and legal papers 
were carried in saddlebags. To enliven such a tour 
through the boundless forest, the lawyers, clients, and 
judges would relate anecdotes and sketches of ad- 
venture. 

If there happened to be one along who had some 
musical ability, — and such a one could usually be 
found in the party, — he would unpack a flute or fiddle 
from his saddlebags, and strike up the melody of some 
popular air or song of the time, in which the company 
would often join with a hearty chorus. There were 
stopping places along the way, usually some lonely 
cabin, where the frontiersman entertained his guests 
as best he could. Often eight or ten men would spend 
the night in a house which had but a single room. 
The best bed or couch was given to the judge, and if 
there were others they were occupied by the lawyers. 
If there were not enough beds, some of the men slept 
on the floor or in the barn loft. 



In those days men avoided going to law, for it was 
thought a disgrace to have "been in court." A man 
who was continually suing or being sued was considered 
a meddlesome, quarrelsome fellow, and no one wanted 
to have any dealings with him. 

There was a young farmer named Skinner living on 
the frontier, who was usually a quiet, mild fellow ; but 
one day he became intoxicated at a logrolling, and was 
the aggressor in a fist fight. He was arrested and taken 



1 68 



before a justice of the peace, where he gave bail for his 
appearance at circuit court. 

Skinner hated courts and lawyers, for he regarded 
the latter as meddlesome and unprincipled. He was 
indicted by the grand jury ; and his father-in-law, with- 
out his knowledge, employed an attorney to defend him 
at his trial. 

When the case of the "State vs. Skinner" was 
called, the lawyer answered that he appeared for the 
defendant. 

" No he don't, Judge," cried Skinner, leaping to his 
feet. " I don't want any lawyer. I'd rather go to jail 
than have anything to do with one of those fellows." 

"What are you going to do with your case ? " asked 
the judge. 

" Give me a clearance of that bond, and I don't care 
what you do with the case." 

The judge asked what the man meant by "a clear- 
ance of the bond," and was informed by the defendant 
that he had given bond for his appearance at court, and 
that he wanted his sureties released. 

The judge said he must go on trial, and asked him 
where his lawyer was. 

" Here's my lawyer," Skinner answered, tapping his 
breast. A jury was impaneled ; Skinner defended his 
own cause, much to the amusement of all ; and he 
secured an acquittal. 

Some of the entries to be found in the dockets kept 
by the early justices of the peace are amusing. The 
following is a literal transcript of a judgment rendered 
by one : — 



1 69 
Pete Lantz Plf. 

V.S 

Abe Wolf Deft 

Before \V. \V. M— J. P. 
August 1 6, 1822. 

Plantiff sued Defendant on a plane not of hand. Constable 

surved papers. Sot for trial August 27th. Now comes Abe Wolf 

and wants a jury, and i giv it to him. Judgement for lantz for a 

yerling steer. Abe Wolf wants to appeal, the justis cant see it. 

During the thirties, there lived a lawyer in Boonville 
who was a terror to witnesses on cross-examination. 
He was original, witty, tyrannical, sarcastic, and abusive 
in his addresses to juries. Strong men grew speech- 
less when he opened fire on them. 

A Mr. B., an excellent old farmer, found himself at 
last dragged into a lawsuit in spite of his aversion to 
courts. Being unaccustomed to the rigid cross-exami- 
nation of lawyers, he became confused in some of his 
statements. 

The lawyer took advantage of this to abuse him 
unmercifully before the jury. Mr. B. had a son named 
John, a great, strapping fellow of nineteen. The 
lawyer's abuse became unbearable, and before John was 
hardly aware of what he was about, he leaped to his 
feet and knocked the lawyer down. 

John was at once arrested, and fined fifty dollars for 
contempt of court. His father paid the fine. The 
lawyer, having washed and dressed his wounds, re- 
sumed his ungentlemanly and uncalled-for assault on 
the old man's character. The farmer looked at his son, 
and said, — 

"Well, John, I've got a little more money." 



170 

John needed no second hint, but sprang at the attor- 
ney. That gentleman, seeing his danger, leaped from 
an open window and ran down the street at full speed, 
pursued by John, while the jury applauded. The law- 
yer's dread of the old man's son, and his own long legs, 
saved him from a severe beating, but he lost his case. 
The jury gave a verdict in favor of the man he had 
abused. 




XXVI. 1 
THOMAS H. BENTON. 

ON August 10, 1 82 1, Missouri was declared a State. 
The proposition to admit this Territory into the 
Union gave rise to a long and bitter debate in Con- 
gress, as to whether it should be admitted as a free or 
as a slave State. At last the question was settled by 
a compromise which was brought about mainly through 
the efforts of Henry Clay. A bill was passed admit- 
ting Missouri as a slave State, but prohibiting slavery 
in all other States that should be admitted to the 
Union, north of latitude thirty-six degrees and thirty 
minutes. This was the " Missouri Compromise." 

Missouri's first State election was held in 1820, be- 
fore she was formally admitted. Alexander McNair 
was chosen as the first governor. Other State officers, 
including members of the State Senate and House of 
Representatives, were also chosen. The people of the 
State elected their own representatives to Congress, but 
the two United States senators had to be chosen by the 
Legislature or General Assembly, as the legislative 
branch of the State government was called. David 
Barton was made one senator without opposition ; but 
over the second senatorship there arose a bitter contest. 

1 The material for this chapter is partly from Switzler's " History of 
Missouri." 



Vjl 







Al)oui the year iNi^ there came t<> Missouri, from 
Tennessee, ;i m;in who had already distinguished him- 
self as a lawyer and statesman, Thomas II. Benton, 
lie was a man <>l great ability, but possessed strong 
prejudices. I lis friends loved him, and his enemies 
hated him. Benton was ambitious t<> put himselJ for- 
ward as a candidate for United States senator, and the 

announcement oi his intention 
roused his foes and friends to 
the highest pitch of excitement. 
The rivals of Benton for the 
office were fudge John B. C. 
I ,ucas, I [enry Elliott, John R. 
[ones, and Nathaniel ( Jook. I lis 
i§J '■■^ % Wwt^' ,l)(,st lonnidablc opponent was 

fudge Lucas, a man who was 
honorable and popular, and who 
had proved himself a faithful 
public officer. Judge Lucas was 

not only a political, but also a 

personal enemy of Colonel Ben- 
ton; for only three years before, his son, Charles Lucas, 
had been killed by Benton in a duel. 

The General Assembly met at the Missouri Hotel, 

corner of Main and Morgan sheets, in St. Louis, Sep- 
tember l<), [820, for the purpose ol electing I 'inted 
States senators. When it became known that Kenton 

was an aspirant for the office, he met with the bitterest 

opposition that the murdered man's lather could arouse ; 

yet dueling in those days was not thought to be crfm 

inal, but honorable, and Kenton had many warm friends. 






rhomas 11. Benton. 



173 

After the unanimous election of the first senator, the 
assembly proceeded to ballot for the other ; but as no 
one of the candidates received a majority of the votes, 
there was no choice. The members of the Legislature 
voted again and again, day after day, with always a 
similar result. The excitement which was aroused has 
never been equaled in any other election in the State. 
The assembly found itself unable to come to any de- 
cision. Mr. Barton having been already selected, it 
was thought best to consult his wishes as to which 
man he would prefer to have for his colleague ; and 
he chose Benton. This added to the strength of the 
latter, but from the great opposition to him it still 
seemed impossible to elect him. 

Judge Lucas, powerful and influential, rallied all his 
personal friends to his support, and urged them to re- 
main steadfast in their opposition to his rival ; and the 
other candidates, though losing part of their support, 
still remained in the contest. 

One of the men who supported neither Lucas nor 
Benton was Marie Le Due, a Frenchman of consid- 
erable prominence. He lived in St. Louis, and had 
been the secretary and assistant of Delassus, the last 
Spanish lieutenant governor. Le Due was strongly 
opposed to Benton's election, and had publicly vowed 
to cut off his right hand before it should ever cast a 
vote for him. 

Nevertheless, the friends of Benton determined to win 
Le Due over to their side ; for it seemed to be their 
only chance of gaining the one vote now lacking for a 
majority. Fortunately for Benton, some of his friends 



74 



had a powerful influence over Le Due. Among them 
was Colonel Auguste Chouteau, one of the founders of 
St. Louis, and long a prominent figure in its history. 

The pet idea of Le Due was to secure from Con- 
gress the confirmation of the French and Spanish land 
claims. Knowing this, the shrewd politicians assailed 
his weakest point. They assured him that the race lay 
between Benton and Lucas, and that the senator chosen 
would surely decide the fate of the land grants ; for 
Benton was in favor of confirming them, while Lucas 
wanted them declared invalid. Le Due spent most of 
one night arguing with Benton's friends, and ended by 
consenting to act with them. 

But even now there was still trouble, for the friends 
of Benton remembered that one of their number was 
dangerously sick, and his vote was necessary for their 
victory. This member was Daniel Ralls, for whom 
Ralls County was afterwards named. It was necessary 

to move quickly, for 
A M -n it was feared that 

Ralls might die. 
Without disclosing 
their plans, Ben- 
ton's friends in the 
assembly hastened 
to have another 
vote called for. 
The room occupied 
by Mr. Ralls was 
upstairs in the hotel 
where the Legisla- 




175 

ture met, but that day he was too sick to sit in a chair, 
and almost too weak to stir. Therefore, at the proper 
time, four negroes carried him into the assembly room 
just as he lay on his bed. When his name was called, 
he voted for Thomas H. Benton ; and this vote elected 
Benton to the United States Senate, of which he was a 
member for thirty years. 

Although there was much in the personal character 
of Benton which one cannot admire, yet he was an able 
statesman of his day, and his influence was long felt in 
Missouri. His wisdom and patriotism are unquestion- 
able. The darkest stain on his character was the killing 
of young Lucas, and this, it is said, he never ceased 
to regret. 

Mr. Ralls died a few days after the election of 
Benton. That vote was his last official act. 



XXVII. 

SOME CUSTOMS AND PEOPLE OF THE 
PAST. 

PEOPLE who have always lived in comfortable 
homes in a city or village, or even on a farm, can- 
not realize the difficulties and hardships of the pioneer 
in a new country. The early immigrant in Missouri 
found a land with rich soil, pure water, beautiful prai- 
ries, and noble forests ; but what were all these, com- 
pared with a comfortable home ? 

It required years of toil to make a home with even 
a few comforts. The pioneer had to cut down great 
trees, and build himself a house, or rather a cabin, 
which was usually inferior to the ordinary cow shed of 
the present time. He had to turn up the soil with a 
poor plow, and sometimes even dig it up with a grub- 
bing hoe, in order to get the hazel roots out. He had 
to split rails, make fences, build barns and bridges, 
and perhaps go a hundred miles to mill. Everything 
had to be done at a sacrifice of time and labor which 
would be appalling to one of the present age. After 
all his toil, if his farm should yield more than he could 
use, his produce became a burden on his hands, unless 
enough newcomers came in to help him consume it. 
Such a thing as a market for surplus production was 
out of the question. 

176 



177 

After Missouri became a State, the pioneer was too 
far advanced to dress wholly in buckskin, like the 
settlers who preceded him. The early Missourian 
therefore raised sheep and grew flax; and his wife 
and daughters had to spin, dye, warp, and weave, and 
make all the clothing for the family, — woolen for 
winter, and linen for summer wear. 

Though the Indians had been .driven from his im- 
mediate neighborhood, the Missouri farmer still had 
enemies. These were the bears, minks, raccoons, crows, 
blackbirds, and blue jays, which made raids on his pig- 
pens, henroosts, and cornfields. 

If the streams became swollen so that he could not 
go to mill, and the family were out of bread, they had 
to resort to " gritting." 

The "gritter" was made from a piece of tin, usually 
an old coffeepot flattened out. This was first perfo- 
rated all over with a nail all the perforations being 
made from the same side, so that the opposite surface 
was made very rough. The tin was then bent and 
nailed to a board, with the rough, convex side outward. 
If the corn was hard, it was boiled until soft enough 
to be gritted. If it was new corn, just "out of the 
roasting ear," or if it had "just passed the milk," it 
did not need to be boiled. The person who did the 
work sat down and put one end of the gritter in a big 
wooden tray, and the other end between his knees. 
Then, grasping the ear of corn by the ends, he rubbed 
it over the rough surface, cutting off fine particles of 
meal, which fell into the tray. The meal was then 
sifted and made into corn bread in the usual way. 

STO. OF MO. — 1 2 



i 7 8 

" Lye hominy " was another homemade luxury, which 
may still be found in some parts of the State. It often 
took the place of bread, and frequently all the food in 
the house was pork and hominy. This gave rise to 
the expression "hog and hominy," which in the early 
days of the State was a synonym for food. 

It was impossible to get many nails, and hence some 
way had to be devised for doing without them. The 
boards that covered the houses and other buildings 
were laid on in the usual way, and then weighted down 
with poles, which were held in position by wooden pins. 
The man who owned an auger, a drawing knife, a 
handsaw, and a chisel was considered a person of note. 

After years and years of such toil and privation, 
comforts came. Cultivation took the wild nature out 
of the soil ; better houses succeeded the cabins ; stock 
grew and multiplied ; mills and towns came nearer ; 
and schoolhouses became more plentiful, and teachers 
better prepared for their business. 



A shiftless class of humanity always appears in the 
second stage of civilization in a new country. . Missouri 
was no exception to this rule, and such a class was 
found within her borders about the time that the 
Indians were driven out. These people were called 
"branch-water men," and some of them may yet be 
found in the wildest parts of the State. The " branch- 
water man" is a product peculiar to the West. He 
is never met with in the East, and no history of Europe 
mentions him. He is usually descended from a long 



179 

line of "branch-water" ancestry. He is tall, lank, and 
stoop-shouldered, and has that peculiar listless air of 
repose which Washington Irving tells us pervades 
Sleepy Hollow. Yet he is a nomadic personage. He 
never has a home, and never wants one, unless he can 
sell it and "move." He is the American gypsy, without 
the ability to barter and trade, but he is nearly always 
honest and inoffensive. 

The branch-water man lives back of some other 
man's farm, and drinks branch water in preference to 
digging a well ; because to dig a well would cost him 
some exertion, and he is an enemy to anything like 
labor. One can always tell this man by his dog and his 
wagon. Dr. King thus describes the dog : — 

" This man's dog is a mongrel. He is a mixture of 
ail the dogs of the meaner kind that you ever saw. He 
is generally a yellow dog, and has a long body, short 
legs, and a bushy tail. As said before, he is a mixture 
of many breeds of dogs ; but he is most of all ' branch- 
water man's dog.' When you see that kind of a dog 
on the streets of a country town, you can find the 
master by going around to the wood yard and pick- 
ing out the man with the smallest, trashiest, and 
meanest load of stove wood in the lot." 

His wagon is always ancient, the sides showing 
great indentations made by the teeth of a horse. It 
is a squeaky old affair which threatens every moment 
to fall into ruins. The tires are usually too large for 
the wheels, and are held on with hickory withes. 

The team that pulls it usually consists of a big 
horse and a small mule, or a small horse and a big 



i8o 

mule, both old, feeble, and thin in flesh. One usually 
has a big knee, and the other a crooked leg, spring 
halt, or some other bodily infirmity. If the two beasts 
possess one eye between them, they are lucky. 

The branch-water man seldom remains longer than 
one season in a place. Then he puts his wife and 
several children into the old creaky wagon, puts out 
the fire, whistles to his dog, and is ready to move. 
The creaky old wagon can contain not only his ni - 
merous family, but all his household effects as well. 



The young people who grew up in the days of toil 
and hardship had their enjoyment, just as the young 
people do now. The old-time dances and "frolics," as 
they were called, are still remembered with pleasure by 
some of the older residents of the State. 

All the young people did not dance in those days. 
Some had religious scruples against it. The early 
pioneer preachers forbade it as wicked, and those 
dances caused no end of trouble and church trials. 
But often a young convert, at the sound of the fiddle, 
could not resist the temptation, and before he or she 
was hardly aware of it, was "on the floor." 

A substitute for this sort of amusement which was 
tolerated by the church members was the " social 
party," "play party," or, as they were sometimes 
called, "kissing bees." At these, such games as 
"Weevilly Wheat," "Sister Phceby," "We're March- 
ing down to Old Quebec," and " King William," were 
played for the amusement of the young people. 



i8i 

If it was announced that there was to be a dance, 
"frolic," or "kissing bee" at a house on a certain 
night, soon after dark the young people would begin 
to arrive. They came from all parts of the country, 




some on foot, some on horseback, and a few, who came 
from a distance, in wagons. 

The dancing was usually of the rudest sort. The 
fiddler sawed away on his cracked instrument all night 
long on such airs as " Old Dan Tucker," " Zip Coon," 



182 

♦ 

" Natches under the Hill," " Rickets," " Fisher's Horn- 
pipe," " Sailor's Hornpipe," " Run, Nigger, Run," 
"Soap Suds," "Great Big Tater in the Sandy Land," 
and others of like character. When not engaged in 
dancing or talking with the girls, the young men usually 
discussed farming, logging, or clearing off the forest and 
plowing the ground. 



In every settlement there were enough pious people 
to get together and found a church. At first the meet- 
ings were held in the people's houses, but after a while 
in schoolhouses; and then, as the population became 
more dense, a log church was erected. A traveling 
preacher, usually called a "circuit rider," was engaged 
to come and preach to the people once a month, or 
maybe only once in every two months. 

Several years later, when the congregation became 
larger and had more money, a Sunday school was 
organized. A superintendent was chosen, and teach- 
ers volunteered to instruct the children. Little boys 
and girls, barefooted and dressed in homespun, were at 
these schools every Sunday, and in them many laid 
the foundation of an excellent education. 

Though the people on the frontier endured much, 
they were free from many annoyances which civiliza- 
tion brings, and perhaps, on the whole, enjoyed life 
as much as their more refined descendants. 



s 



XXVIII. 

. THE NEW CAPITAL. 

T. LOUIS was the center of commerce in Missouri, 
but so many settlements had sprung up in the 
interior that it was not a convenient point for the 
capital of the State. Members of the Legislature com- 
plained that they had too great a distance to travel. 

" Why, I have to start a month before I'm elected, to 
reach the capital in time for the opening of the Legisla- 
ture," said one member, who lived far in the interior. 

In 1 82 1 the capital was changed to St. Charles, but 
even this location was not sufficiently central. Immi- 
grants were pushing out upon the broad prairies and 
into the deep forests, and districts which were a wilder- 
ness but a short time before were rapidly being filled 
with frontiersmen's cabins. Farmers, traders, and salt 
makers had settled all over the Boones Lick country. 

The members of the Legislature declared that they 
must have a new capital ; and it was decided to select 
some place which was favorable in other respects, and 
at the same time would be easy of access to the mem- 
bers from the different parts of the State. 

Five commissioners were appointed to choose the 
site. They were John Thornton of Howard County, 
Robert Gray Watson of New Madrid County, John B. 

183 



1 84 



White of Pike County, James Logan of Wayne County, 
and Jesse B. Boone of Montgomery County. 

The revised constitution of the State required that 
the capital be located on the Missouri River within 
forty miles of the mouth of the Osage. The commis- 
sioners set out on their expedition, went up to the 
mouth of the Osage, and proceeded to inspect the coun- 
try along the shores of the Missouri. 

The settlers in that part of the 
jKfe State were often puzzled to 

know what the committee- 
men were doing. 

" Say, are you fellows 
hunting salt or bee 
trees ? " asked an old 
hunter, when he 
came upon them. 
" We are hunting 
for a location for 
the capital," answered 
one of the committeemen. 
The old man gazed at 
them for a moment in open-mouthed astonishment. He 
was ashamed to display his ignorance by asking for an 
explanation, and yet was unable to fathom the meaning 
of the answer. After a moment's silence, he took his 
gun from his shoulder, and, shaking his head, said, — 
"There's no such beast in these woods." 
The committeemen then explained that they were 
seeking a location for the State buildings, including a 
prison. This did not please the old hunter. 




i8 5 

"We don't want them," he said. " What do we want 
with prisons ? I came here to be free, and as long as 
you keep away with your laws and prisons I shall be. 
We don't do anything here to go to prison for, and if 
you'll keep away with them, we'll all get along first 
rate." 

The commissioners did not waste much time arguing 
with this man, whose ideas of civilization were so differ- 
ent from their own. 

After examining many locations, they decided upon 
the spot where Jefferson City now stands. The land 
was surveyed, and the commissioners returned to St. 
Charles and made their report, which was approved by 
the governor and the General Assembly. 

In 1822, men were sent out to survey the new town 
and lay it out in lots. It was called Jefferson City in 
honor of Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the 
United States. 

Work was immediately begun upon the State build- 
ing, and a village soon sprang up about it. The capitol 
was erected on the four sections of land donated to 
Missouri by the United States government. It was 
made of brick, and stood oh precisely the same site as 
that on which the governor's mansion now stands. It 
was large enough to meet the needs of the State, but it 
was destroyed by fire in 1837; and the oldest portion 
of the present capitol was erected in the next year. 

During the year 1825, while the first building was 
in course of construction, Marquis de Lafayette, then 
visiting the United States, honored Missouri with 
his presence. He was received at St. Louis with every 



1 86 

demonstration of joy and gratitude, and as much patri- 
otism was displayed as if Missouri had been one of the 
original thirteen colonies. 

Next year (in 1826), the new State building was far 
enough advanced for the Legislature to meet at the new 
capital. It was the fourth meeting of this body since 
Missouri had become a State. Jefferson City was at 
this time only a little backwoods village, and most of 
the buildings were of logs. Hotel accommodations 
were poor, and when the legislators met it was difficult 
to provide for them. 

There is a story told of an enterprising landlord who 
established a unique hotel in the new capital. His 
building was a board structure, one story in height and 
without a floor. The office occupied the front part 
of the building, and the dining room and kitchen, the 
rear. A newly elected member of the Legislature asked 
if he could be provided here with board and lodging. 

" Certainly," answered the landlord. " That is what 
I am here for." 

" Have you a comfortable room and bed ? " 

" Yes, sir, plenty of good rooms and beds. I will 
give you number fifteen." 

The member, who could see nothing but the front 
office and the kitchen, sat until supper was announced, 
puzzling his brain to locate room number fifteen. 

Soon after the meal, he expressed a wish to retire ; 
and the landlord, seizing a tallow candle, led him to an 
open space of ground in the rear of his board house. 
Here a row of tents had been pitched, and before one 
of them was stuck a pine board on which was rudely 



87 



painted, " No. 15." Inside the tent was a rude cot, on 
which the legislator reposed. 

The first capitol was erected at a cost of twenty-five 
thousand dollars. It was a simple two-story structure, 
without any architectural ornamentation. The House 
of Representatives met on the lower floor, while the 
Senate was "upstairs." Many anecdotes are told of 




the mistakes " "'*^3^ 

of members at the 

first meeting in the new 

building. It is said that one member of the House of 

Representatives took his credentials to the clerk of 

the Senate. 

"This does not belong here," said the clerk. "You 
must take this to the lower house." 

"Where is that?" 

" Downstairs." 

"Why, I saw those fellows down there," said the 
member, "but I thought it was a grocery." 



XXIX. 

THE BIG NECK WAR.— THE PLATTE 
PURCHASE. 

DOWN to the year 1824, the extreme northern part 
of Missouri, or what now comprises the three 
northern tiers of counties, was unsettled by white men, 
and was claimed by the Iowa Indians. In that year, a 
delegation of chiefs and warriors, headed by White 
Cloud, went to Washington with General William Clark, 
ex-governor of Missouri. Here a treaty was made, by 
the terms of which the Indians ceded to the whites all 
their lands in Missouri — amounting to about two million 
acres. In return for this, they were to receive five 
hundred dollars a year for ten years : as was usually 
the case with Indian treaties, advantage was taken of 
savage ignorance. 

The counties of Platte, Buchanan, Andrew, Holt, 
Atchison, and Nodaway were not at that time a part 
of Missouri; for, as we shall soon see, they were ac- 
quired by the Platte purchase in 1837. I n 1824, this 
district was reserved for the Indians, and they were 
to remove to it. 

Among the Indians who took part in this treaty was 
a celebrated brave called, in English, Big Neck. He 
was not an hereditary chief, but a bold warrior who by 



1 89 

his ability had raised himself to the leadership of a 
band in his tribe. He was very ambitious, and was 
exceedingly jealous of the hereditary chiefs. With a 
band of about sixty, he separated himself from the 
others, and, disregarding the authority of the chiefs, 
roamed about the country wherever he pleased. 

His favorite hunting grounds were the vast tracts of 
land drained by the Chariton and Grand rivers in north- 
ern Missouri. The Chariton was abundantly supplied 
with fish, while deer and elk in great numbers roamed 
over the prairies and through the woods of what is 
now included in Adair, Macon, Schuyler, and Putnam 
counties. Big Neck claimed that he did not compre- 
hend the treaty of 1824, by which he relinquished his 
lands in Missouri. He said it was his understanding, 
when he signed the treaty, that he and his band were 
to be allowed to live along the Chariton River for ten 
years. He was told he must rejoin his tribe, and live 
under the authority of his tribal chief, Mahakah. This 
he refused to do, and for two years made his home 
on the Chariton. 

In 1828, most of the Indians having moved according 
to the treaty, settlements were made along the Chariton 
River; and a year later, the county of Randolph was 
formed, which included a large part of north Missouri. 
One of the settlements, known as the " Cabins of the 
White Folks," was made near the present site of Kirks- 
ville ; it did not contain more than a dozen families. 
Prior to this, there had been some cattle grazers in the 
Chariton country, and it had also become a noted resort 
for bee hunters. 



190 



In July, 1829, Big Neck and his band of sixty 

Indians came down from the north, and encamped on 

the Chariton about nine miles northwest of the Cabins 

of the White Folks. One day, some of 

these Indians, while hunting along the 

Chariton bottom, came upon a drove of 

hogs belonging to the white men, and 

Uq their dogs killed several. 

Next day three bold 
frontiersmen, Isaac 
Gross, John Cain, and 
Jim Myers, visited Big 
Neck at his camp, 
and not only pro- 
tested against the con- 
duct of the Indians, but 
insisted that they must 
leave Missouri. 

" This country now 
belongs to us," said the white men, 
" and you must leave it. You 
signed away your right to it, 
and now you must pay us for the 
hogs you have killed, go away, 
and never come back again." 
" I did not sign the treaty," 
Big Neck defiantly replied. " I have come back here 
to live, and you must take your cattle and^ go away; 
or, if you want to fight, come on ! " His warriors, with 
loaded guns in their hands, crowded about him ; and 
the white men, becoming alarmed, went away. 




This is the white men's version of the cause of the 
trouble, but the Indians tell a quite different story. 
One of their band, called Iowa Jim, said that the whites 
came upon them while they were in camp resting from 
their journey, gave them whisky, and made them 
drunk. The white men then robbed them of their 
horses and blankets, mistreated their women and chil- 
dren, and left. Recovering from their debauch, the 
Indians were hungry, and one of them shot a hog and 
brought it into camp. Big Neck rebuked the forager 
for this, saying, — 

" It is true that we have been robbed, and are hun- 
gry ; but the hog was not ours, and you should not 
have shot it." 

Whichever may be the true story, the settlers, after 
their interview with the Indians, hurried back to their 
cabins, and, gathering up what property they could, 
went with their families down into what is now Ran- 
dolph County, to the home of William Blackwell, in 
Silver Creek settlement. In a few hours, the news of 
the trouble had spread throughout the little town, and 
a company was formed to drive the Indians out. A 
messenger was also dispatched to Howard County, to 
notify the authorities there. By ten o'clock on the 
morning of the 25th, a party of volunteers, numbering 
between forty and seventy-five men, set out for the 
" Cabins," under the command of Captain Trammell. 
They reached the place on the morning of the 27th. A 
council was held, and it was decided to proceed to the 
Indian camp, and compel the Indians to leave the country. 
Myers, Gross, and Cain accompanied the volunteers. 



192 

Big Neck and his band had retired some distance up 
the Chariton, and had gone into camp at a point near 
the Schuyler County line. The whites advanced to 
within sight of the camp, and then halted to recon- 
noiter. Captain Trammell swung his men around 
to the north, and, coming up, formed a line in the rear 
of the Indians. Dismounting his men, and leaving 
every fourth one to hold horses, the captain advanced 
toward the wigwams with the others, calling for the 
interpreter. Iowa Jim stepped forward, gun in hand, 
and Captain Trammell said, — 

" You must leave this country at once, and stay away. 
The land belongs to the whites, and you have no right 
here." 

Through his interpreter, Big Neck answered, — 

" The land is ours. We will leave when we please. 
I am going to see the red-headed governor (General 
Clark) about it, and he will say I am right." 

Captain Trammell was cool. He told the Indians 
that he did not wish to fight, but that they were tres- 
passers in the country, and must depart. He made 
no serious objection to their peaceably entering the 
country to fish and hunt, but a permanent occupation 
since the recent trouble would be wholly impossible. 
Big Neck was inclined to assent to the demands of 
Trammell, and all seemed in a fair way to be adjusted 
without bloodshed. 

But some of the whites were determined to bring on 
a fight. They had marched far and suffered much, 
and, besides, they were angry. Trammell, seeing the 
restless feeling of his men, rode back to the main line, 



193 

which was advancing, and ordered them to keep their 
places. Some of the Indians were seen to take posi- 
tion behind trees, and hurriedly load their guns. Milton 
Bozarth discovered an Indian behind a tree priming 
his rifle. He called out to Jim Myers, whose attention 
was in another direction, — 

" Look out, Jim, or he will shoot you ! " 
Jim Myers, without waiting for any orders, raised 
his gun and shot the Indian down. This Indian was 
the brother of Big Neck. As he fell, mortally wounded, 
he uttered a terrible yell. Powell Owenby fired, killing 
a little girl, the child of the Indian that Myers had just 
slain. William Winn shot and killed the mother of the 

child. 

The Indian women, with characteristic shrieks and 
yells, began to run away, while the warriors, with guns 
loaded and bows strung, charged the whites. Volleys 
were exchanged at close quarters. The savages fought 
well, firing from behind trees and logs. Their steady 
aim, together with their war whoops and savage yells, 
was too much for the whites, and all but about fifteen 
fled at the first onset. 

The main body of white men, having gained their 
horses, mounted and rode away ; but Jim Myers, who 
had fired the first shot, was killed before he could reach 
his horse. Powell Owenby had mounted and was riding 
away, when the animal, maddened by the flash and 
report of guns, became unmanageable, and threw him 
into a thicket, where the Indians found him, still stunned 
by the fall. There they quickly shot him to death. 
Winn had his thigh broken by a bullet, and lay helpless 

STO. OF MO. — 13 



194 

on the battlefield. A number of other whites were 
also wounded. Captain Trammell was struck by an 
arrow, and rode over a hundred miles with the weapon 
in his body. He died a few days later from the wound. 

The Indians found Winn, built a fire, and threw him 
upon it, but he was dragged from the flames, killed, and 
scalped by Big Neck. Owenby and Myers were also 
scalped, and then the savages left the country. An 
army of militia was called out, and marched to the scene 
of the trouble, but, as the savages had left, there was 
nothing for it to do but to bury the dead. Only one 
Indian was found, and he was some distance from the 
scene of the conflict, sitting against a tree, stark and stiff 
in death. He was richly decorated, and was supposed 
to be the chief's brother, whom Jim Myers had killed. 

Big Neck himself and five others were afterwards 
arrested, tried before a jury of frontiersmen, and ac- 
quitted. This assures one that the Indians were less 
to blame than the whites. Big Neck never again 
entered Missouri. When he learned that he was to be 
banished from the hunting grounds of his fathers, he 
covered his head with his blanket, and said that he was 
ashamed for the sun to shine upon him. 



The Black Hawk War in Illinois in 1831-32 caused 
the inhabitants of north Missouri great uneasiness. 
Several companies and regiments were called out, and, 
acting on false alarms, they made some long marches 
but did no fighting. Blockhouses and forts were built 
for protection, but were not needed. However, it was 



195 

no doubt due to the extraordinary precaution of the 
governor that an invasion of Missouri was averted. 
This ended the Indian troubles in Missouri. 



An important event in the history of Missouri oc- 
curred in 1837. It was the Platte purchase, by which 
a valuable tract of land was added to the already large 
State. The idea originated with General Andrew S. 
Hughes at a regimental muster in the summer of 1835. 

At this meeting General Hughes proposed the acqui- 
sition of the Platte country, inhabited by the Sac and 
Fox Indians. The matter was called to the attention 
of Congress. Senator Benton and his colleagues in 
both houses were in favor of it, and an act was accord- 
ingly passed to extend the boundary of Missouri so as 
to include the triangle between the existing line and 
the Missouri River. The Indians were removed to 
what is now Kansas. 

The Platte purchase included all that portion of 
the State west of a line extending from Kansas City 
northward to the Iowa line. As said above, this tract 
is now divided into the counties of Atchison, Andrew, 
Buchanan, Holt, Nodaway, and Platte ; and to-day it 
is among the most fertile and beautiful portions of 
Missouri. 



XXX. 

THE MORMONS. 

ABOUT the time of the expulsion of the Indians 
from north Missouri, the central and western por- 
tions of the State were agitated by a religious fanati- 
cism which in some respects surpassed that of the 
Fanatical Pilgrims. This new religious sect called 
themselves the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day 
Saints ; but the common name for them was Mormons. 
Their leader was Joseph Smith, who declared that he 
had received revelations from Heaven, with the com- 
mand to found a new church. 

He also claimed to have discovered some mysterious 
plates, which, by divine direction, he dug from the 
earth in the western part of New York State. These 
plates he interpreted and published as the Book of 
Mormon, sometimes called the Mormon Bible. He at 
once began preaching his new religion, and about the 
year 1831, with a number of converts, he removed to 
Kirtland, Ohio. 

Historians and biographers have dealt very harshly 
with Joseph Smith. He is represented by some as an 
unprincipled, lazy fellow, who should have been sent 
to the penitentiary early in his career. He seems to 
have been subject to periodical backslidings, occasion- 

196 



197 

ally professing religion, then falling from grace and 
becoming again a drunken loafer. 

At last, however, according to his own statement, 
the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a vision, 
pardoned his sins, and told him where to find the mys- 
terious plates upon which he was to found the church 
of " Latter Day Saints." 

In many respects, the Mormons were like the Fanat- 
ical Pilgrims. The head of their government, spiritual 
and temporal, was a prophet, and, like the prophet of 
the pilgrims, he had visions. Like the pilgrims, also, 
the Mormons journeyed southwest in search of " Zion " 
or the New Jerusalem. It was to find this holy spot 
that Smith visited Missouri in 183 1, and there the 
search ended, for Independence, Jackson County, 
seemed to fulfill the conditions. Smith named this 
place "The New Jerusalem," and then returned to 
Kirtland. 

Next year, the prophet visited Missouri with many 
followers, who all located in Jackson County. They 
had considerable money, for they entered several hun- 
dred acres of land, most of which was west of In- 
dependence. They professed to own all things in 
common, which really meant, however, that the bishops 
and prophet owned everything. They established a 
newspaper, — the first in the county, — and called it 
The Evening Star. In this journal, the revelations of 
the prophet appeared in weekly installments. These 
revelations promised great things to the true believers, 
but foretold terrible consequences to the Gentiles, as 
they called all not Mormons. 



198 




The Gentiles at first merely ridiculed the prophecies 
thus published ; but it was not long before these 
prophecies became bold threats. Joseph Smith and 
his Mormon bishops promised the faithful that they 
would drive out the Gentiles and take the country. 
They even declared their intention to unite 
the Indians of the north with themselves, 
and to drive away all opponents of 
, Mormonism. They said that 



it was the Lord's coun- 
try, and that the 
Lord's people were 
entitled to it. 

Incensed by such 
expressions from 
press and pulpit, the 
Gentiles in and near 
Independence rose 
in a body, destroyed 
the printing office, 
and tarred and feath- 
ered the bishop, with 
of his companions. 



1 
i 



<v -1 



one or two 

This was in July, 1833. The Mormons were not slow 
to retaliate, and other deeds of violence led to a fray in 
which three men were killed. Then on November 2 
the Mormons marched to destroy the town of Inde- 
pendence, but turned back on the appearance of a large 
body of Gentiles. Negotiations for peace were entered 
into, and it was finally decided that the Mormons were 
to leave that part of the country, never to return. The 



199 

Gentiles were to pay them for the Star printing office, 
and they were given until the end of the year to leave 
Jackson County. 

The exodus commenced at once. The Mormons 
crossed the Missouri River and settled in Clay and 
Carroll counties, but afterwards moved into Caldwell 
County, where they built up a town called Far West. 
Its site is now in the middle of a cultivated field, not 
far from Kingston. Among its buildings was the home 
of Joseph Smith, — a small, substantial frame structure, 
of one and a half stories ; and in the center of the 
town was left a space for a large and splendid temple. 
The Mormons, however, did not begin work on this 
temple till the year 1837, and so it was never built. 

All this time the prophet and others were engaged in 
making converts to the new faith. Mormon mission- 
aries spread over most of the United States and several 
European countries, and they sent many new believers 
to settle near Far West. These recruits laid out farms, 
built houses, and quickly changed the wilderness into a 
prosperous community. The Mormon settlements ex- 
tended into Livingston, Carroll, Daviess, and Clinton 
counties. Far West was for a time their only town ; 
but it was laid out on a grand scale, and it became 
an important commercial center. 

Whatever else may be said of the Mormon people 
while in Missouri, they cannot be accused of lacking- 
energy and industry. It is true that as a rule they 
were not well educated, but they were nearly always 
thrifty and prosperous. If their religion had been less 
obnoxious, and thev had been more charitable to their 



200 

neighbors, and if they had not adopted unlawful prac- 
tices, they might have long remained a power in the 
State. But in addition to advocating polygamy, they 
still claimed that they were God's chosen children, and 
thus were entitled to everything. 

The prosperity of the Mormon settlements drew to 
that part of the State many good and industrious people 
who did not partake of their peculiar notions. The 
Mormons became very jealous of these unbelievers, as 
they called them, and determined to drive them away. 
Bands of lawless Mormons began to wander over 
the country, plundering the Gentiles indiscriminately. 
Many members of the new sect were undoubtedly sin- 
cere, and desired to do right; but, beside them, under a 
cloak of religion and fanaticism, many bad men sought 
to enrich themselves. 

The Gentiles, with great alarm, noticed the growing 
strength and proportionate lawlessness of this religious 
body, but were powerless to prevent them. Nearly all 
the offices were under Mormon control, and if a band of 
these robbers were arrested, they were tried before 
Mormon officials and juries, and were acquitted. The 
Gentiles had the sympathy of the people outside the 
Mormon districts ; and, had not those misguided fanat- 
ics believed so implicitly in Joseph Smith's prophecies, 
they must have seen that they were laying the founda- 
tion of their own ruin. The schemes of the prophet 
were so wild and unreasonable as to cause one to doubt 
his sanity. But the followers of Black Hawk, Big Neck, 
and other Indian chiefs were still smarting under their 
defeat ; and his plan to unite all the Indians with his 



201 

Mormon followers, and sweep the Gentiles from the 
earth, seemed not impossible to the Missourians. 

A small colony of Mormons had located at De Witt, 
in Carroll County, and the people determined to drive 
them out. About this time trouble arose also between 
the Mormons and Gentiles in Daviess County. The 
people here were anxious to elect officials who would 
punish Mormon offenders, and the only way to do it 
was to disfranchise all of that sect. This was attempted 
at an election held near Gallatin, and a fight was the 
result. The citizens of Daviess County called on the 
people of Carroll to aid them in driving out the ob- 
noxious foe. The men of Carroll County responded 
heartily ; but, while they were assisting in the suppres- 
sion of the disorders of their neighbors, the Mormons 
took advantage of their absence from home to send 
many recruits to De Witt. 

Here the Mormons showed signs of making a stand. 
The Gentiles, to the number of four or five hundred, 
surrounded their camp, and organized a little army. 
Congreve Jackson, of Howard County, was elected 
brigadier general ; Ebenezer Price, of Clay, was made 
colonel; Singleton Vaughn, lieutenant colonel; and 
Sarchel Woods, major. Under these officers, the brigade 
spent ten days in drilling, and then began an attack on 
the Mormons ; but they desisted after a few shots were 
exchanged. 

Matters were finally adjusted peaceably, when the 
Mormons agreed to sell their possessions to the Gentiles, 
and to leave the county. ■ At the last moment, however, 
the arrival of Lyman Wright, a Mormon colonel, with 



202 

one hundred recruits, came near inducing the Mormons 
to rescind their agreement to leave. But after consider- 
able discussion, they removed to Livingston and Daviess 
counties. 

Settlements of Mormons had grown up at a few other 
places, though their principal town was still Far West, 
and all efforts to dislodge them were, for a time, in 
vain. After the trouble at the election near Gallatin, 
the Mormons formed the plan of compelling all the 
Gentiles to leave the country. They resorted to every 
sort of violence, driving people from their homes, de- 
stroying their household goods, and burning their build- 
ings. Mr. Levi F. Goben, a resident of Livingston 
County, said that he himself saw a ravine filled with 
the furniture of the Gentiles, which the Mormons had 
thrown there. 

A band of destroying angels, as they called them- 
selves, went to the house of a man named Bogard. 
Mr. Bogard's wife was sick, but they made her get out 
of bed, and leave the house, which they soon burned. 
She carried her babe in her arms, and, after going a 
little way, fell at the roadside from weakness ; and then 
a Mormon named Allred took the ramrod from his gun 
and whipped her, to make her rise and travel further. 

The above are only instances of the many conflicts 
and outrages that marked the struggle between the 
Mormons and their opponents. In 1838 the disorders 
became so serious as to threaten civil war. Mormon 
offenders resisted arrest, and were supported by the 
armed resistance of their fellow-believers. Finally, 
Governor Boggs issued a proclamation ordering out the 



. 203 

militia to put down the insurrection and enforce the 
laws, and General Alexander W. Doniphan was sent to 
the scene of the trouble, with part of the first brigade 
of the State troops. 

The Mormon force, numbering about one thousand 
men, was led by G. W. H inkle. Their first encounter 
with the militia was a slight skirmish on Crooked River, 
which resulted in the killing of a Mormon named David 
Patton, — "Captain Fear-not," as he styled himself, — 
the leader of the " destroying angels." 

The only engagement of any importance, however, 
was at Haughns Mill, about fifteen miles east of Far 
West. There is no official report of this battle, and the 
account given in this chapter is from the lips of a sur- 
vivor of the bloody affray. 

The election trouble in 1838, followed by the effort 
on the part of the Mormons to drive out the Gentiles, 
caused the latter to organize independent companies of 
rangers. This independent command at no time ex- 
ceeded one hundred and fifty men. They were, for 
the most part, men with private grievances against the 
Mormons. The rangers of Daviess and Livingston 
counties chose as their colonel, Thomas Jennings, a 
soldier of 18 12 who had fought under Jackson at New 
Orleans, and who in later years served in the Mexican 
War. His son, Obadiah Jennings, was made captain 
of one of the companies. 

The entire force was composed of deer hunters and 
Indian fighters, who were armed with their trusty rifles. 
The little band, reduced by furloughs and detached 
parties to about eighty, was encamped at Lock Springs, 



204 

to protect the Grand River settlements until the arrival 
of the expected militia. While the rangers were waiting 
there, a messenger ran into the camp, saying, — 

"The Mormons at Haughns Mill are going to burn 
Grand River." 

Jennings determined to march against Haughns Mill 
at once. It was not more than five miles from Lock 
Springs, and he reached it about three o'clock in the 
afternoon. The mill was situated on Shoal Creek, and 
there was a blacksmith's shop west of it and about 
fifty yards away. A dam had been thrown across the 
creek to force the water into the mill race. Two or 
three log cabins were built on the west side of the 
stream, and one or two on the east side. A well had 
just been dug close to the blacksmith's shop, and on 
this afternoon the Mormons, to the number of forty or 
fifty, were assembled about it. 

When Jennings came in sight of the mill, his men 
struck up a martial air with the fife and drum. The 
Mormons seized their guns, and all that could, crowded 
into the shop. Some got behind it, and a few started 
across the creek on the dam. 

The Gentiles opened fire, and pressed forward upon 
the enemy. There was no time for parley, and both 
sides were determined neither to give nor to ask 
quarter. 

Mounted on his white horse, Colonel Jennings rode 
up and down the line, encouraging his men by word 
and act. The old deer hunters sent their bullets with 
fatal effect through the chinks between the logs into the 
blacksmith's shop. The Mormons returned the fire, 



205 



but every time their heads 
appeared at the cracks, 
they were struck by 
bullets. So they 
kept their heads 
down, and, poking 
their guns through 
the cracks, fired 
without taking aim. 
In this manner 
the heads of the 

Ira Glaze and 
experienced deer hunt- 
side of the shop, and 








they shot over 

Gentiles. 

esse Nave, both 

ers, ran up to the 

poked their guns 



through the chinks until the muzzles almost touched 
the men inside. The Mormons tried to shoot these 
bold rangers, but they hugged the outside walls close, 
and kept out of range. Occasionally Glaze was heard 
to shout, — 

"Your powder burnt me that time." 

During the remainder of the fight, these two daring 
men remained just on the outside of the shop, loading 
and firing through the cracks at the men within. 

One Mormon leaped from the shop, and, running to 
the creek, fled across on the mill dam, and reached a 
field beyond. He might have escaped, had he not 
climbed on a fence and paused to look back. Frank 
Berry, an old deer hunter, saw him, leveled his unerr- 
ing rifle, and fired. The Mormon dropped his gun, 
threw up his hands, and fell from the fence into the 
field. 



206 

Another Mormon escaped from the blacksmith's shop, 
and was running up Shoal Creek, when a Gentile named 
Jake Rodgers saw him and gave chase. Jake's rifle 
was empty, and he had no other weapon but a sword 
made out of a scythe. The Mormon, seeing that he 
could not outrun the fleet Gentile, dropped his gun ; 
then, turning, he threw up his hands, and begged for 
his life. But he appealed in vain. Rodgers ran upon 
him, cut him down, and hacked him to death. 

No prisoners were taken ; for all who did not escape 
were slain. Even a boy who had crawled under the 
bellows in the shop perished with the others. The 
firing from the outside continued until no response 
came from the shop. Then, pushing open the door, 
the rangers found the dark room tenanted only by the 
dead. The exact number of Mormons killed is not 
known. History puts the number at eighteen or 
twenty ; but an eyewitness who helped collect the dead 
said that he counted thirty-three. 

The dead Mormons were thrown into the newly dug 
well, and were covered up. The men under Colonel 
Jennings soon afterwards joined the forces under Doni- 
phan, and all marched to capture Far West. Here the 
Mormons had fortified themselves for an attack ; but, 
at last realizing the folly of resistance, they agreed to 
dispose of their possessions and leave the State. Their 
property was sold at a great sacrifice, and they left 
Missouri, never to return. Joseph Smith and some of 
the other leaders were arrested, but made their escape ; 
and others, who were put on trial, were acquitted by 
juries. 



207 

In 1 84 1, an attempt was made to assassinate Gov- 
ernor Boggs, — as was supposed, by a Mormon named 
Porter Rockwell, — but the attempt was a failure. The 
Mormons went to Illinois, where they again had trouble 
with the Gentiles. Joseph Smith and his brother 
Hyrum were killed, and the others were driven from 
the State. They went to Utah, and under new leaders 
established another home in the wilderness — Salt Lake 
City, which is their capital to-day 








ft 



» 






¥ 






XXXI 

THE HONEY WAR. — COLONEL GENTRY. 

GOVERNOR LYMAN BOGGS, under whose ad- 
ministration the Mormons were expelled from 
the State, found his entire term filled with foreign and 
domestic trouble. In 1839, the year after the Mormons 
were expelled, the whole State was thrown into a fever 
of excitement by a conflict which threatened war in 
north Missouri. 

The trouble arose over the disputed boundary line 
between Missouri and Iowa. The tract of land in 
question was mostly forest ; and, as it was noted for 
wild bees, the dispute was ironically called the " Honey 
War." 

Instead of pursuing a sensible policy and having the 
boundary line settled according to law, Missouri and 
Iowa both stubbornly insisted on levying taxes and 
executing writs in the disputed territory. A man living 
in this region could not tell where he belonged. 

A Missouri sheriff, while trying to execute papers 
here, was driven away by the Iowa officers. Governor 
Boggs of Missouri called out the militia to enforce the 
writs of the State. Governor Lucas of Iowa ordered 
out the Iowa militia to uphold the laws of his Territory. 
For several weeks, two armies of two or three thousand 

208 



209 

men each were confronting each other, and a bloody 
conflict was hourly expected. 

The affair took a ridiculous turn, however, and be- 
came a huge joke ; bloodshed was averted, and anger 
changed to mirth. Mr. Campbell, of Palmyra, wrote 
some doggerel verse which burlesqued the two gov- 
ernors and set everybody to thinking what a ludicrous 
figure they were cutting. The first two stanzas of Mr. 
Campbell's poetic effusion were as follows : — 

THE HONEY WAR. 

Ye freemen of this happy land, 

Which flows with milk and honey, 
Arise! To arms! Your ponies mount! 

Regard not blood or money. 
Old Governor Lucas, tigerlike, 

Is prowling round our borders, 
But Governor Boggs is wide awake — 

Just listen to his orders. 

"Three bee trees stand about the line 

Between our State and Lucas. 
Be ready all these trees to fall 

And bring things to a focus. 
We'll show old Lucas how to brag, 

And seize our precious honey! 
He also claims, I understand, 

Of us three bits in money. 11 

Seeing the folly of going to war over the disputed 
boundary, the Clark County (Mo.) court appointed a 
committee to wait on the Iowa Territorial Legislature, 
then in session at Burlington, and try to bring about an 
amicable settlement of the difficulties. The committee 

STO. OF MO. — 14 



2IO 

was kindly received, and resolutions were adopted ask- 
ing the governors of Missouri and Iowa to suspend hos- 
tilities until the boundary line could be determined by 
the national government. 

Congress established this line in 1840. The decision 
was in favor of Iowa, and "the Indian boundary line " 
run by Colonel Sullivan was declared to be the true 
northern boundary of Missouri. The decision was ac- 
cepted by all. A few years later, the line was run by 
commissioners from Iowa and Missouri, and some cor- 
rections were made in the former survey. Their deter- 
mination of the boundary fixed the line as it exists to-day. 



When the Seminole Indians in Florida had proved 
too much for the regular army of the United States, 
the President asked Senator Benton if some of the 
Missourians would go there to fight them. Mr. Benton 
answered that the Missourians would go wherever their 
services were needed. A requisition was accordingly 
made on Governor Boggs for two regiments of mounted 
volunteers. 

The first regiment enlisted for the service in Florida 
was commanded by Colonel Richard Gentry. The men 
assembled at Columbia early in October, 1837, and 
marched to Jefferson Barracks, near St. Louis, where 
they were formally mustered into service by the general 
in command. Then they floated down the Mississippi 
River in boats to New Orleans, where some sailing 
vessels were employed to carry them to Florida. 

They were overtaken by a violent storm on the voy- 



211 

age, and several of their vessels were stranded. Some 
horses were lost, but no soldiers. On November 15 
the regiment landed at Tampa Bay, Florida, and went 
into camp to await orders from Colonel Taylor, who 
was then in command of the United States troops. 
They remained here for fifteen days ; and on Decem- 
ber 1 they received orders from Taylor to join the 
regular troops and advance to Okechobee Lake, which 
was over one hundred miles distant. It was reported 
that the Seminoles had gathered there, and were pre- 
pared for battle, under their most successful leaders, 
Sam Jones, Tiger Tail, Alligator, and Mycanopee. 

The march inland was uneventful until the little army 
came to the Kissimmee River. Here a few Indians 
who were guarding their cattle were captured, and from 
them it was learned that the hostile force was close by. 
On December 25, having crossed the river, the white 
men advanced to give battle. Colonel Taylor placed 
the Missouri volunteers in the center and in front, with 
the regular troops supporting the flanks. 

The Indians had carefully posted themselves on the 
edge of a swamp. Their ground was well chosen, and 
they fought more stubbornly than the savages usually 
did. 

Colonel Gentry's command, owing to the nature of 
the ground, dismounted and fought on foot. The 
colonel himself was on foot also. After several hours' 
severe fighting, the Indians began to fall back, and 
Colonel Gentry ordered his men to advance. The In- 
dians were being slowly driven from the field, when the 
Missouri colonel was fatally wounded in the abdomen. 



212 

Though he suffered the most intense pain, and knew 
that his wound was mortal, yet he remained on his feet 
for an hour after he was shot, and led his men on to 
victory. At last human endurance could hold out no 
longer, and he sank to the earth at the head of his 
regiment. He was carried from the field and died that 
night. 

The fall of their gallant colonel did not dishearten 
the Missourians. They kept on fighting until the In- 
dians were put to flight, and Colonel Taylor ordered 
them to take care of the fallen. The killed and wounded 
among the whites numbered one hundred and thirty- 
eight, most of whom were Missourians. 

The services of the Missouri volunteers being no 
longer required, they returned to their homes in 1838, 
and were mustered out of service. The body of Colonel 
Gentry, with those of Captain Van Swearingen and 
Lieutenants Brooke and Center, of the regular army, 
were brought to Jefferson Barracks to be buried. 

Gentry County, organized February 12, 1841, was 
named in honor of this dauntless Missouri colonel. 

In his official report of the battle of Okechobee, 
Colonel Taylor did great injustice to the Missouri volun- 
teers. He represented them as breaking ranks and 
flying to the rear of the army, and said that all efforts 
to rally them were in vain. Taylor, like all regular 
army officers, was inclined to hold the volunteers in 
contempt, notwithstanding the fact that in actual war 
they do nine tenths of the fighting. Though Colonel 
Gentry had fallen in the front, fighting the enemy, and 
though his men, with a very few exceptions, remained 



213 

on the field until victory was gained, the report of the 

commander branded them all as cowards. 

So manifestly unjust and untruthful was Taylor's 

report, that the Missouri Legislature resented it, and 

ordered an investigation into the conduct of the Mis- 

sourians engaged in the Florida war. 

A number of officers appeared before the investigat- 
ing committee. Their sworn statements were in conflict 
with the report of Colonel Taylor, and the Legislature 
passed strong resolutions condemning this report, and 
asking the federal government to order an investigation 
into the conduct of the Missouri volunteers. Though 
the resolutions passed both houses without a dissenting 
voice, they were never acted upon by the President of 
the United States. 




Colonel Richard Gentry. 



XXXII 



DONIPHAN AND PRICE. 




w 



HEN a quarrel arose 
between Mexico and 
the United States, which 
resulted in a war, the Mis- 
sourians did not stop to in- 
quire as to which was the 
just side in the difficulty. 
Their country wanted sol- 
diers, and they were quick 
to respond to the demand. 
It was on May 13, 1846, 
that Congress made a 
formal declaration of war 
with Mexico. Immediately 
afterwards, Governor Ed- 
wards of Missouri issued a call for volunteers to join the 
"Army of the West," which was under the command of 
General Stephen Kearney, and was soon to begin the 
conquest of northern Mexico by marching against Santa 
Fe. Mounted volunteers were quickly enlisted in Mis- 
souri, and were collected at Fort Leavenworth, the point 
where the army was to begin its march. On June 18, 
all the companies of the first regiment had arrived there, 

214 



Colonel Alexander W. Doniphan. 



215 

and an election was held, which resulted in the choice 
of Alexander W. Doniphan as colonel ; C. F. Ruff, 
lieutenant colonel ; and William Gilpin, major. 

Colonel Doniphan's command was the very flower 
of Missouri riflemen. They were armed with what 
was known as the United States Yager, an improve- 
ment on the musket, and a very accurate weapon ; 
and each man was a sharpshooter. Only a part, how- 
ever, of the Missouri volunteers were cavalry. There 
was a battalion of light artillery from St. Louis under 
the command of Captain R. A. Weightman and Captain 
A. W. Fischer, and two battalions of infantry from 
Platte and Cole counties, commanded by Captain 
Murphy and Captain Augney. The " Laclede Ran- 
gers," from St. Louis, were under Captain Thomas B. 
Hudson. Including the regular United States troops, 
the expedition was made up of one thousand six hundred 
and fifty-eight men ; and it was provided with sixteen 
pieces of ordnance — twelve six pounders, and four 
twelve-pound howitzers. 

The march of Kearney and Doniphan extended 
across what is now Kansas, a part of the Indian Terri- 
tory, and New Mexico ; and it was perhaps the boldest 
invasion, by so small a body of men, ever made into 
the heart of an enemy's country. They were practi- 
cally cut off from all supplies and communications ; 
and the hardships and sufferings of their men are 
almost beyond belief. One of the soldiers in describ- 
ing the journey said : — 

"We traveled for clays with very little water, and 
what we did find was so brackish we could not use it. 



2l6 



The sand rolled up in clouds about us, and settled on 
our clothing, hands, and faces, until the color of the 
soldiers could not be told by looking at them. I have 
raked the dry sand off my tongue with my finger. One 
day we came to a bright, clear stream of water, but it 
was almost scalding hot. 

" When night came, worn out, and parched with 
thirst, we were compelled to sleep on the ground, our 
blanket furnishing our only bed and covering. The 
plains seemed to swarm with lizards. A soldier would 
scarcely get to sleep when the active little reptiles began 
crawling over him. They glided over our faces, and 
crawled up our trousers, and sometimes a soldier's 
blanket would become so full of them that he would 
get up and shake them off upon a sleeping companion. 
A sleeping soldier was often heard to say, — 

" 'Don't shake your lizards on me ! ' 

" But perhaps he was too drowsy to resent it. In 
a few moments he would be awakened by the active, 
creeping reptiles, and arising would shake them on 
some other sleeping comrade." 

From Fort Leavenworth to Santa Fe, the march 
was through a wilderness or uninhabited desert ; but 
the soldiers bore up bravely, and made little or no com- 
plaint. After the capture of Santa Fe, the little army 
was divided ; Kearney went on to conquer California, 
while Doniphan advanced toward central Mexico. On 
December 25, Doniphan's regiment reached the Bra- 
zito, or "Little Arm" River, where they had their first 
encounter with the Mexicans. 

It is said that the colonel and some of his officers 



217 

were playing cards in the camp, when they discovered 
a cloud of dust approaching them. It proved to be 
Captain Reid's scouts, who came to tell them that a 
large body of the enemy was advancing to attack them. 
Colonel Doniphan threw down his cards, and drew his 
sword, saying, — 

" Boys, I held an invincible hand, but we shall have 
to play it out in steel now." 

Every man flew to his post. The bugle sounded, 
and the long roll of the drum announced the proximity 
of the enemy. The men threw down the loads of wood 
and buckets of water which they were carrying to their 
camp, and, seizing their rifles, fell into line of battle. 
A large body of Mexicans was seen on the level plain 
bordering the Brazito. 

The Missouri troops, amounting to about eight hun- 
dred in number, were commanded by Colonel Doni- 
phan in person. The Mexicans, about eleven hundred 
strong, were under General Ponce de Leon, an officer 
of considerable experience. His men were all veterans, 
and the force was not to be despised. 

While the two armies stood confronting each other 
in line of battle, General Ponce de Leon dispatched a 
lieutenant to Colonel Doniphan, bearing a black flag. 
The messenger rode at full speed until within sixty 
yards of the American lines, when he halted and 
saluted with his ensign. Colonel Doniphan, with his 
interpreter, T. Caldwell, advanced toward him, and 
asked what he wanted. The messenger said, — 

"The Mexican general summons your commander 
to appear before him." 



218 







AX ::^-f 














"If your gen- 
eral desires peace, --, 
let him come here," 
was the interpreter's answer. 

" Does vour commander refuse to ^ 
come ? Then we will break your ranks, and take him 
there." 

" Come and take him." 

The Mexican flew into a rage, and cried, — 

" Prepare for a charge, — we neither ask nor give 
quarter." Waving his black flag over his head, he 
galloped back to the Mexican lines. 

As soon as he had reached his friends, there came a 
trumpet blast, and a body of Mexican dragoons was seen 
to gallop boldlv forward. Colonel Doniphan cried, — 

" Steady, boys ! Don't be too eager to fire. Wait 
until they are near enough to make it count. We have 
not brought our powder and bullets across the plains 



219 

to throw them away. Remember you are Missou- 
rians." 

His men began to cheer, and when the Mexicans 
were within a few rods, opened fire on them. Several 
saddles were emptied, and the enemy was thrown into 
confusion. Then Captain Reid, with sixteen cavalry- 
men, charged through their line and drove them back. 

A body of Mexican infantry came up behind a 
thicket and opened fire on the riflemen. Colonel 
Doniphan shouted, — 

" Lie down on your faces, and reserve your fire until 
the Mexicans come within sixty paces." 

After the Mexicans had fired three volleys, they saw 
the Americans lying on the ground, and supposed that 
they had slain all the invaders. They rushed forward, 
shouting, — 

"Bueno! Bueno!" (Good! Good!) 

Suddenly a volley of rifle balls mowed down a large 
number of them, and those uninjured retreated in con- 
fusion. The battle was stubborn, but the Missouri 
riflemen and artillerists were too much for the Mexi- 
cans. General Ponce de Leon and sixty of his men 
were killed, five were made prisoners, one hundred and 
fifty were wounded, and the remainder fled. 

Doniphan had eight wounded, but none killed. Soon 
after this battle he advanced and took possession of 
El Paso. 

The principal conflict in which the Missourians under 
Doniphan were engaged was in the Sacramento Pass, 
near the city of Chihuahua, February 28, 1847. At 
this pass, the Mexicans numbered between four and 



220 

five thousand, under Major-General Jose A. Heredia. 
Colonel Doniphan had but nine hundred and twenty- 
four men, and ten pieces of artillery. 

One of Doniphan's officers, when he saw how well 
the Mexicans were posted, and how greatly superior 
their numbers were, went to the colonel and said, — 

"Colonel, there are great odds against us." 

" About six to one." 

"And they are strongly intrenched ! " 

"They certainly could not have a stronger position." 

"Then how do you hope to win?" 

Doniphan gave him a look of surprise, and said, — 

"Why, zve are Missourians." 

The officer saluted, and was silent. The battle 
lasted three hours, but the Missouri riflemen stormed 
redoubt after redoubt, and sent the enemy flying in 
every direction. 

Just before the charge, the right and left wings were 
ordered to dismount, and every seventh man was 
detailed to hold horses. Volleys of musketry, grape, 
and canister from the enemy's works maddened the 
men who were kept out of the fray by this unwelcome 
duty. As Colonel Doniphan was passing up the lines, 
a volunteer who had seven horses in charge called to 
him and said, — 

" See here, Colonel ! Am I compelled to stand here 
in this tempest of cannon and musket balls, and hold 
horses ? " 

"Yes, if you were detailed for that purpose." 

The volunteer, eager to have a hand in the fight, tied 
the several bridles together, threw them down, seized 



221 



his gun and saber, and started off in the charge, 
saying, — 

" Hold horses, nothing ! I didn't come here to hold 
horses ; I can do that at home." 

While this showed a lack of discipline appalling to a 
regular army officer, it also showed an enthusiasm which 
explains Doniphan's wonderful victory. 

As the right wing scaled the breastworks, Sergeant 
Tom Hinckle was among the first to cross the intrench- 
ments. He was in advance of the others, and soon 
found himself surrounded by the enraged enemy. Fir- 
ing his Yager and pistols, and not having time to re- 
load them, he seized stones and hurled them with such 
fearful rapidity and effect as to force the Mexicans 
back, and thus held the ground until the others came 
to aid him in driving the enemy from the field. 

Major Samuel C. Owens, of Independence, Missouri, 
was the only American killed. There were eleven 
wounded, of whom three died of their wounds. The 
Mexican loss was three hundred and four killed, forty 
prisoners, and nearly five hundred wounded. 

Next day, Colonel Doniphan took possession of the 
city of Chihuahua, which was the chief object of the 
long march. His little band of brave soldiers returned 
by way of the Gulf of Mexico and the Mississippi River 
to Missouri, where they were mustered out of service. 



Another noted leader of Missouri troops in the Mexi- 
can War was Sterling Price. When the war broke out 
he was a member of Congress, but he soon resigned his 



222 

seat in order to organize a second regiment of vol- 
unteers in his State. One full regiment and two 
battalions were enlisted, — all but one battalion being 
mounted. 

After coming together at Fort Leavenworth, the men 
elected Price as their colonel, and D. D. Mitchell, lieu- 
tenant colonel. Price's instructions were to reinforce 
the Army of the West, and he led his force to Santa 
Fe by the same route that Kearney and Doniphan had 
taken. 

While in command of the American troops in New 
Mexico, Price was called upon to put down a formidable 
revolt against the United States. His. first encounter 
with the insurgent Mexicans was at Canada, January 24, 
1847. The Americans were victorious, and, pushing on, 
soon put the enemy to flight in a second battle, though 
outnumbered. Then the Mexicans and their Indian 
allies sought refuge in Taos, which was strongly forti- 
fied. Colonel Price arrived at the town on February 3, 
and the next morning advanced to take it. The enemy 
offered a stubborn resistance, and the fight lasted all 
day. When the Mexicans finally surrendered, they had 
lost over two hundred and fifty men killed, while 
the American loss was but fifteen killed and fifty 
wounded. 

This was the last battle fought by Colonel Price in 
the Mexican War, as the people of New Mexico soon sub- 
mitted. The final treaty of peace with Mexico gave to 
the United States a vast amount of territory, in which 
was included most of the region that had been con- 
quered by the Missouri volunteers. 



XXXIII. 
BORDER TROUBLE. 

FROM the time that Missouri was admitted as a 
State, down to the Civil War, there was almost 
constant agitation over slavery. The strife extended 
throughout the whole nation, but in Missouri it was 
especially bitter, for the people were very evenly 
divided on the subject. 

In 1828 there was a strong disposition on the part of 
Missouri statesmen to abolish slavery. The two United 
States senators, Benton and Barton, with the members 
of Congress from Missouri, met with a number of 
prominent State politicians in St. Louis, to devise some 
scheme for liberating the slaves. 

The plan agreed upon was that of gradual emancipa- 
tion. It provided that after a certain time every slave 
born in the State should be free at the age of twenty- 
one, and that the master should be compelled to teach 
him to read and write. 

Before the Missouri leaders were ready to submit the 
plan to the people, however, an abolitionist in New 
York, named Arthur Tappan, invited two negro men to 
dine at his house with him. In the afternoon of the 
same day, these negroes were seen riding in a carriage 
with Tappan's daughters about the streets of the city. 

223 



224 

This incident was published in all the papers, and so 
aroused public sentiment against the abolitionists, that 
Benton and his friends dared not submit their propo- 
sition to the people. 

It may seem strange at this day that the silly act of a 
New York fanatic should change the mind of the people 
of Missouri. But people in the slaveholding States be- 
lieved that if the negroes were freed they would be 
placed on a social equality with the whites. The 
thought was repugnant, and the conduct of Tappan 
seemed to prove that social equality was what the 
abolitionists desired. 

For some time after the Tappan episode, there was 
a lull in the slavery agitation, but in 1833, Elijah P. 
Lovejoy, a graduate from Princeton, came to St. Louis 
and began the publication of an abolition paper. He 
was a reformer whose intentions, doubtless, were good ; 
but his lectures and editorials were unfavorably re- 
ceived. 

There were many things at that time which were 
prejudicial to the success of Lovejoy. Tappan's foolish 
act was not forgotten. Then, too, the abolitionists 
were assisting many negroes to escape from the State 
by a system of " underground railroads," as they were 
called. Some of these runaway negroes were vicious 
fellows, and before escaping from their masters, com- 
mitted the most horrible crimes. 

One negro woman poisoned her master and his whole 
family. A runaway negro man in Marion County 
murdered a little girl and boy whom he found playing 
in the woods. A second negro woman, left in charge 



225 

of three small children, in a fit of frenzy struck one 
over the head with a board, and killed it. She then 
seized a hatchet, killed the other two to prevent them 
from reporting her crime, and fled to the woods. The 
abolitionists, by means of their underground railroad 
system, enabled her to elude all pursuit and escape to 
Canada, and she was never brought to justice for her 
terrible crime. 

The horrible outrages of the runaway negroes were 
attributed by some to the influence of the abolitionists. 
The charge was no doubt unjust, but there were many 
people in the Southern States who believed that the 
abolitionists were inciting the slaves not only to run 
away, but to murder their masters as well. 

Wild rumors were often heard of some plot on the 
part of the slaves to rise and kill their masters while 
asleep. Although the rumors were in time found to be 
groundless, they tended to increase the bitter feeling 
which the slaveholders entertained against the aboli- 
tionists. 

Lovejoy found it uphill work to convert the Missou- 
rians to his ideas of emancipation. Mr. Hamilton R. 
Gamble, his friend, advised him " to distrust his own 
judgment so far as to pass over in silence everything 
connected with slavery." 

" I will not," he answered. " I have sworn eternal 
enmity to slavery, and, being determined, by the blessing 
of God I will never go back." 

The proslavery people became so incensed against 
him, that he left St. Louis and located at Alton, in 
Illinois. Here he was attacked by a mob. He fired 

STO. OF MO. — 15 




•?JW 



226 



into it, killing one 
man, and then was 
himself killed by the 
others. 

During this time 
there lived in St. 
Louis Dr. Emerson, 
a surgeon in the 
United States army, 
who owned a young 
negro named Dred 
Scott. When Dr. Em- 
erson was ordered to 
Rock Island, Illinois, 
in 1834, he took the negro with him. There, Scott met 
a female slave belonging to Major Taliaferro, of the 
army, and, with the consent of their masters, these two 
slaves were married. They were taken to Fort Snelling 
(in what is now Minnesota), where they lived for four or 
five years. Then Dr. Emerson purchased Scott's wife 
and two children, and took the whole family to St. Louis. 
Dred Scott sued for his freedom on the plea of invol- 
untary residence in a free State and Territory for sev- 
eral years ; and the local court at St. Louis decided in 
his favor. The Supreme Court of the State, however, 
reversed the decision, and the case was finally taken to 
the Supreme Court of the United States, where Chief- 
Justice Roger B. Taney delivered the famous " Dred 
Scott decision" in 1857. 

In that decision, the judge declared that the framers 
and supporters of the Declaration of Independence did 



227 

not include the negro race in their proclamation that 
" all men arc created equal." He said the negroes " had 
for more than a century before been regarded as beings 
of an inferior order, and altogether unfit to associate 
with the white race, either in social or political relations, 
and so far inferior that they had no rights which the 
white man was bound to respect, and that the negro 
might justly and lawfully be reduced to slavery for his 
benefit." Judge Taney went further in this famous 
decision, and declared the Missouri Compromise Act 
unconstitutional, null, and void. 

This decision alarmed the abolitionists, for it opened 
up all the country once more to the spread of slavery, 
especially the new Territories and States yet to be 
formed. Moreover, the discussion of the slavery ques- 
tion had revived an old theory of the national union, 
advocated first by Aaron Burr, and afterward by John 
C. Calhoun, a prominent Southern statesman. 

This was known as the States' sovereignty doctrine. 
Many men argued that each State was sovereign in 
itself, that the United States was only a union or 
compact of so many sovereign States for their mutual 
benefit ; and that each State had a right to with- 
draw from the confederation or union at any time it 
felt disposed to do so, and set up an independent 
government. 

The people who held this doctrine were known as 
States'-rights men, and their opponents were called 
Unionists. Those in favor of " States' rights " were, 
for the most part, Southerners and proslavery men, 
while the people in the Northern and Middle States 



228 

were Unionists. The theory of States' rights was the 
fundamental cause of the great Civil War. 

For a long time before the Dred Scott decision, the 
slavery question had been kept constantly before the 
people of Missouri. Early in 1849, Mr. Claiborne F. 
Jackson, a member of the State Senate, introduced a 
resolution in that body, denying the right of Congress 
to meddle with slavery in a State or Territory. His 
resolution absolved the slave States from the Missouri 
Compromise, and indirectly prepared the way for the 
spread of slavery in the new States and Territories. 

Senator Benton strongly opposed this resolution ; and, 
when it passed the Legislature, he appealed to the peo- 
ple. This act is called in history " Benton's appeal." 
It caused his defeat when he came up for reelection to 
the United States Senate in 185 1, and retired him from 
office forever, excepting one term in the lower house of 
Congress. In 1856, he was a candidate for Governor of 
Missouri, but was defeated by Tr listen Polk. He died 
in Washington, D.C., April 10, 1858. 

In 1854 the Territories of Kansas and Nebraska were 
formed. Kansas was becoming well populated, and it 
was known that it would soon apply for admission as a 
State. According to the Missouri Compromise, it should 
be admitted as a free State; but the act creating the 
Territory ignored this compromise (which was later 
declared unconstitutional), and provided that Kansas 
should decide for itself whether or not it would admit 
slavery within its borders. 

The free-State men and the proslavery men made 
great efforts to fill up the Territory with those of their 



229 

own way of thinking before the time came for voting 
on the question ; and the conflicts between them along 
the border of Missouri sometimes resulted in bloodshed. 
One might think that this State would have minded her 
own business, and not have meddled with affairs across 
the line ; but the people of Missouri seemed to think 
that they ought to be consulted in regard to the political 
beliefs of their neighbor. Some Missourians became so 
interested in the kind of a constitution that Kansas 
should adopt, that they went over into that Territory 
and voted at the constitutional election. The people of 
Kansas, especially those of free-soil notions, objected 
to this neighborly assistance, and the struggle between 
the two parties soon broke out in civil war. 

John Brown, a noted abolitionist, went to Kansas 
with his sons, and organized a band of armed men, who 
were determined that Kansas should come in as a free 
State. At Osawatomie, in Kansas, they had a battle 
with a party of proslavery men. in which several were 
killed and wounded. Brown and his sons were accused 
of murdering an old man and his family, and were com- 
pelled to fly from the Territory. 

Brown last appeared in Virginia in 1859, where he 
tried to induce the slaves to rise against their masters. 
With two of his sons, some negroes, and a few white men, 
he seized the United States arsenal at Harpers Ferry. 
Here he was besieged, his sons were killed, and he and 
his party were captured. He was indicted for treason, 
and was hanged December 2, 1859. 

While civil war raged in Kansas, there was much 
trouble also on the Missouri border. This afforded an 



230 



excuse for horse thieves and outlaws to commit depre- 
dations which disgrace civilization. The outlaws of the 
free-soil men were called jay hawkers ; those of the pro- 
slavery men, guerrillas and border ruffians. The out- 
rages committed along the Missouri border, from 1856 
to the close of the Civil War, are beyond description. 

Houses were burned, stock 
driven away, and people 
robbed and murdered. 
Every person who had 
l a grudge against an- 
other tcok advan- 
tage of the dis- 
tracted times to 
satisfy it. 

Mr. Watson, a. 
quiet, inoffensive 
man living near the 
Kansas line, had re- 
tired to bed one night. 
A voice called at his 
gate, — 
" Hello!" 

He rose, partly dressed himself, and with a lighted 
candle in his hand went to the door. 
" What do you want ? " he asked. 

"We want your scalp!" shouted a voice from the 
road. Then followed two or three shots, and he fell 
dead in his doorway. His wife ran to him, and the 
assassins galloped away. It was never known why 
Mr. Watson was killed. 




231 

A party of men called at a house in the same 
neighborhood one dark night, and asked for the head 
of the family. They were told that he was absent. 

"No, he isn't; tell him to come out here!" roared 
a voice from the darkness. 

" I assure you he is not at home," stammered the 
frightened wife. 

"Then come out yourself." 

The woman and her daughter went toward the horse- 
men, and were seized and bound. When sure that 
there were no men in the house, the outlaws entered, 
robbed it of all valuables they could carry with them, 
and then, releasing their prisoners, galloped away. 

In 1856, horse stealing and robbery were of almost 
nightly occurrence, and murder was quite frequent. 

Bands of robbers on both sides increased by their 
outrages the difficulties between the free-State and pro- 
slavery men. The Governor of Missouri visited the 
scene of trouble, then hurried home expecting a dis- 
patch from the President ordering out the militia of 
the State. Civil war was already raging along the 
border. 

At Lexington, five hundred men were under arms. 
Jackson, Clay, and Platte counties were each to furnish 
the same number. In all, three thousand men from 
Missouri awaited the order of the governor to march to 
the scene of trouble. 

But the order never came, though a guerrilla warfare 
continued along the border, until it was swallowed up 
in the great Civil War. 



XXXIV. 
A SEASON OF DOUBT. 

THE year 1856 showed a large increase in the new 
political party, called the Republican. This party 
was known to favor limiting the territory of slavery, if 
not abolishing it entirely. In i860, the Republicans 
nominated Abraham Lincoln for President. The Dem- 
ocratic party became divided in its convention, one wing 
nominating Stephen A. Douglas, and the other J. C. 
Breckenridge. The party calling itself " the Consti- 
tutional Union party" nominated John Bell. Lincoln, 
the Republican candidate, was elected. 

The proslavery people were filled with dismay and 
indignation. They believed that the threat of so many 
years was about to be fulfilled, but still many wise men 
in the South advocated a peace policy. 

" Give Lincoln a trial," they said ; but others declared 
it was of no use. 

" He was elected to free the negroes, and by some 
hook or crook he will accomplish it." Excitement was 
great. South Carolina seceded, other Southern States 
followed, and it was easily seen that most, if not all, of 
the slave States would soon do likewise. 

Claiborne F. Jackson, of Howard County, had been 
elected as a Democrat to succeed Governor Robert M. 

232 



233 



Stewart, and early in January, 1861, be was -augurated 
Governor of Missouri. The great quest.cn which then 
a<ri ated the minds of the peopie was, « Shall the State 
se ede or remain in the Union ? " Governor Stewart s 
ewell message ended with a thrilling ^appeal i or the 
maintenance of the Union, but it was known that his 
successor's views were somewhat different. 

in his inaugural message Governor Jackson argued 
that the destiny of all the slaveholdmg States in the 
Union was the same; that it would be m^possible to 
karate Missouri's fate from that of her stster ^ 
who had the same social orgamzat.on ; and that ,f the 
existing Union should be disrupted, interest and ym- 
pathy would combine to unite the fortunes of all slave- 
folding States. He declared that Missoun won d no 
shrink from the duty which her posit.on upon the border 
imposed, but would "stand by the South The S ate 
he said, was in favor of remaining in the Umon so long 
as there was any hope of maintaining the guarantees of 
the Constitution; but he opposed the plan of coercmg 
the seceded States back into the Umon. 

Holding the above views concerning the in erests 
and policy of the State, the governor believed that it 
was Missouri's right and duty to take part m the settle- 
ment of the questions then at issue. Hence he asked 
the Legislature to issue an immediate call for a State 
convention, in order "that the will of the people may 
be ascertained and effectuated." He also declared that 
it might soon become necessary to send delegates to a 
convention of the Southern States, or of all the State* 
The message of Governor Jackson caused widespread 



234 

alarm among all who had determined to remain loyal to 
the Union. It was an expression of secession in lan- 
guage as bold as he dared utter. 

The Legislature proceeded at once to pass a bill for 
calling a State convention. During the discussion of 
the measure, the line between the Unionists and seces- 
sionists was clearly drawn. Mr. Randolph proposed to 
amend the original bill so that the State could not 
secede without the question being first submitted by 
vote to the people. This measure was opposed by the 
men who were determined to force the State out of the 
Union. 

Mr. Lacy, from Cape Girardeau, offered a substitute 
for Mr. Randolph's amendment. This provided that 
the convention, when assembled, should have no power 
to change the existing relations of the State of Missouri 
to the government of the United States, or of any State 
thereof, until the act, ordinance, or resolution making 
such change was submitted to the people of Missouri, 
and approved by a majority of the qualified voters 
voting at the election. 

The extreme secessionists opposed this substitute as 
strongly as they did the original amendment. But it 
was carried in the House, and, after some slight amend- 
ments in the Senate, it passed both houses. This was a 
great victory for the Union men. They had confidence 
in the people of Missouri, and believed that if the ques- 
tion of secession were submitted to them, they would 
vote it down. 

Hon. Daniel R. Russel, a commissioner from Missis- 
sippi, was in Jefferson City at this time. His mission 



235 

was to express an earnest hope that Missouri would 
cooperate with the South in the adoption of measures 
for the common defense and safety of the slaveholding 
States. But the bill which had just passed both 
branches of the Legislature made it apparent that 
Missouri did not intend to act hastily in the matter. 

This was in January, 1861, before the inauguration 
of President Lincoln. The whole State, and in fact 
the whole nation, was in doubt and suspense. Wildest 
rumors flew everywhere. Governor Jackson claimed to 
be a Union man, but always with the proviso that the 
national government should not interfere with the 
seceded States. 

To adjust matters amicably, and avoid a threatened 
civil war, the Peace Congress, as it was called, was pro- 
posed. It was held in Washington, D.C., February 4, 
1 86 1, and the people of Missouri took great interest in 
its efforts. It was hoped that the Peace Congress 
would agree upon some satisfactory and honorable 
plan of reconciling the interests of the North and the 
South, and of averting the danger of civil war. Waldo 
P. Johnson, John D. Coulter, A. W. Doniphan, Harrison 
Hough, and A. H. Buckner were sent to Washington 
as commissioners from Missouri to this Congress. 
Ex-President John Tyler, of Virginia, was chosen as 
its presiding officer. It failed to accomplish what had 
been hoped for, however, and its proceedings do not 
concern Missouri. 

Waldo P. Johnson was elected to the United States 
Senate from Missouri in March, 1861, but had not 
served a year when both he and Trusten Polk, the other 



236 

senator from Missouri, were expelled from that body 
for sympathy and participation in the war against the 
Union. 

Meanwhile, all eyes were upon the governor and Leg- 
islature. Notwithstanding the passage of the bill call- 
ing for a convention, there were many who feared that 
before Lincoln's inauguration the extreme secessionists 
would force the State out of the Union. 

On February 18, 1861, delegates to the State conven- 
tion were elected. There was an active, and in some 
places an exciting, canvass. According to the law, each 
senatorial district was entitled to three times as many 
delegates as it had members in the Senate. The ques- 
tion of secession, so far as the people were concerned, 
was practically settled by that election ; for a majority 
of eighty thousand votes was cast against it. 

The convention assembled in the courthouse at Jef- 
ferson City, February 28, 1861, just four days before 
the inauguration of President Lincoln. Hon. Hamilton 
R. Gamble, a pronounced Unionist, was the soul and 
spirit of that assembly. He swayed it at will, so much 
so that it was called the " Gamble convention." 

Perhaps a wiser choice of delegates to a convention 
was never made. Some of the greatest statesmen and 
lawyers in Missouri composed it. They steered the 
Ship of State through the early storm of war, and kept 
her off the rock of secession on which so many of her 
Southern sisters were wrecked. 



XXXV. 

CAMP JACKSON. 

THE expressions in Governor Jackson's inaugural 
message were sufficient to arouse the apprehen- 
sions of all lovers of the Union. These apprehensions 
were soon afterwards greatly increased by the gov- 
ernor's calling out the State Guard, under General 
D. M. Frost. 

At this time there were in the St. Louis arsenal forty 
thousand muskets and bayonets, and other munitions of 
war. When General Frost, though declaring the best 
intentions, began to assemble the State Guard near 
the arsenal, it was believed to be his design to seize the 
arms, and equip these militiamen as a part of the 
Southern army. 

Major William H. Bell was commander of the arsenal. 
He was evidently in sympathy with the Southern cause, 
for he even expressed a willingness to turn over the 
arms to the guards. But this was early in January, and 
so confident were the secessionists that Missouri would 
be " voted out of the Union" on the 18th of February, 
that they were unwilling to precipitate matters. The 
correspondence between Governor Jackson and D. M. 
Frost shows treasonable intent toward the government. 

There was a loyal, watchful man in St. Louis, named 

237 



2 3 8 



Francis P. Blair, who determined to save the State for 
the Union. In connection with O. D. Filley, he began 
quietly to organize and discipline a regiment for the pur- 
pose of preventing the arsenal at St. Louis from falling 
into the hands of the secessionists. This was necessary, 
for the arsenal was guarded by not more than forty 
men, under a commander whose loyalty one may doubt. 
A Union safety committee, appointed by the Presi- 
dent and Secretary of 
War, was organized 
in January, 1861. It 
was composed of 
the following . distin- 
guished citizens of St. 
Louis : O. D. Filley, 
chairman, James O. 
Broadhead, secretary, 
General Francis P. 
Blair, John How, Sam- 
uel T. Glover, and J. J. Witzig. Companies 
were organized and secretly drilled in O. D. 
Filley's store for mutual protection in case of a se- 
cessionist attack. By the foresight and watchfulness 
of Filley and Blair, an army was quietly prepared for 
Captain Lyon, when no one dreamed that there was 
more than a handful of soldiers to defend the cause of 
the Union. 

On the nth of January, there arrived some reinforce- 
ments of regular soldiers at the barracks, and on the 
24th of the same month, while Frost was congratulating 
Governor Jackson on the ease with which they could 




239 

arm the soldiers, Major Bell was relieved and Major 
Hagner took his place. This disconcerted the plans of 
Frost and Jackson; and when on February 18, the 
day for the election of delegates to the State convention, 
the people declared so emphatically against secession, 
any one less blinded than Jackson would have seen the 
folly and ruin of continuing his course. 

On February 6, Captain Nathaniel Lyon of the 
regular army arrived at the arsenal in St. Louis. He 
is described as " a small, angular man, with abundant 
sandy hair, and a coarse, reddish-brown beard. He had 
deep-set blue eyes, features rough and homely, and the 
weather-beaten aspect of a man who had seen much 
service on the frontier." 

General Harney was in command of the Department 
of Missouri, and came to St. Louis about the time of 
the arrival of Captain Lyon. The commander, however, 
had many friends and relatives in sympathy with the 
South, and, soon after the inauguration of President 
Lincoln, he was ordered to Washington to explain his 
own views. 

His departure left Lyon in command, and the captain 
determined to seize the opportunity to act. The State 
Guard under General D. M. Frost was encamped just 
without the city, at a place named Camp Jackson in 
honor of the governor of the State. 

Captain Lyon was justified in his suspicions of the 
commander of the State Guard, for Frost was acting 
under Jackson, who was an avowed secessionist. After 
the fall of Fort Sumter, President Lincoln made his 
first call for seventy-five thousand men. Missouri's 



240 

quota was fixed at four regiments, which Governor 
Jackson was requested to furnish. In reply to the 
demand, the governor, on April 17, 1861, defiantly 
informed Hon. Simon Cameron, Secretary of War, that 
he regarded the requisition as illegal, unconstitutional, 
and revolutionary ; that its object was inhuman and dia- 
bolical ; and that it could not be complied with. He 
concluded his answer with the assertion, that " Not 
one man will the State of Missouri furnish to carry on 
such an unholy crusade." 

Jackson, through General Frost, was raising an army. 
According to his own words these troops could not be 
for the support of the national government ; therefore 
his army must be against it. 

As soon as General Harney was gone, Captain Lyon 
determined to strike a blow that would check the rising 
of the State Guard in the interest of Governor Jackson ; 
for he had reasons to think that it was time to act. 
By order of the governor, the United States arsenal at 
Liberty had been seized on April 20, 1861. Moreover, 
two of the avenues in Camp Jackson were called 
" Davis " and " Beauregard," in honor of two of the 
most noted Confederate leaders. Captain Lyon also 
suspected that the camp was being fortified with ord- 
nance taken by the Confederates from Federal arsenals ; 
for it was said that boxes marked "marble," which had 
been hauled there from the river, contained cannon and 
mortars, and that barrels of ammunition had been sent 
with them. 

To satisfy himself as to the truth of these reports, 
the captain determined to turn spy and reconnoiter the 



24 



camp himself. He borrowed a dress, shawl, and bon- 
net of a friend, arid disguised himself in this female 
attire. Accompanied by Captain J. J. Witzig as guide, 
he entered a carriage and rode around Camp Jackson 
unsuspected. What he saw and heard was sufficient 
to rouse him to immediate action. 

After he was convinced of the treasonable intent of 
Jackson and Frost, Lyon held a consultation with the 
committee of safety, and acquainted them with his 
design to seize the camp. 
They all approved it, ex- 
cept Glover and How. 

On May 10, General 
Frost, learning of the plan, 
wrote to Captain Lyon, de- 
nying that he had any 
hostile intentions toward 
the government, or any de- 
sign on the arsenal. Lyon 
responded that Frost's com- 
mand was regarded as hos- 
tile toward the government 
of the United States ; that 

FrOSt Was in Open COmmuni- GeneraI Nathaniel Lyon. 

cation with the Confederacy, and was receiving supplies 
and munitions of war from it ; that he had refused to 
disperse his forces in obedience to the proclamation of 
the President ; and that the immediate necessities of 
state policy and warfare, and the obligations imposed 
upon himself by his instructions, compelled him to 
demand immediate surrender. The only promise he 

STO. OF MO. — 1 6 




242 

made was that the prisoners should be humanely and 
kindly treated. 

General Frost could not misunderstand this com- 
.munication. Before it reached him, however, Lyon 
and Blair had started out with between six and seven 
thousand well-armed troops, and twenty pieces of ar- 
tillery, and were on their way from the barracks to 
Camp Jackson. 

As told in the St. Louis newspapers of the time, the 
soldiers rapidly surrounded the camp, planting their 
batteries upon all the heights overlooking it. Long 
files of men were stationed in platoons on every side, 
and a picket guard was established, covering an area of 
two hundred yards. The guards, with fixed bayonets 
and muskets at half cock, were instructed to allow none 
to pass within the limit thus taken up. 

By this time an immense crowd of people had assem- 
bled in the vicinity. They came in carriages, buggies, 
cars, and baggage wagons, on horseback, and on foot. 
Some had arms, as is supposed, with the intention of 
assisting the State troops, but the careful planting of 
the guard prevented them from entering the camp. 
The hills in the neighborhood were covered with 
people, and hifndreds of women and children mingled 
with the throngs, little dreaming of danger. 

On receiving Captain Lyon's demand for surrender, 
General Frost called a hasty consultation of the officers 
of his staff. Resistance was clearly out of the ques- 
tion, and they decided to surrender. The State troops 
were therefore made prisoners of war, but were offered 
their release on condition that they would take an oath 



243 



to support the Constitution of the United States, and 
not to take up arms against the government. All but 
eight or ten preferred to remain 
in confinement. 

The prisoners, about 
p 5 eight hundred 










t 







LJ 
in number, 
were formed 
in line for 
marching to 

the arsenal. The brigade was headed 
by General Frost and his staff on horseback, and with 
colors flying and drums beating, they marched to a 
wood that skirted the road. 

About half past five, the prisoners of war left the 
grove and entered the road. The United States sol- 
diers inclosed them in a single file stretched along 
each side of the line. When a halt was made, large 
crowds of people pressed forward, hooting and jeering. 



244 

Then some German soldiers at the head of the column 
lost their temper and opened fire. Fortunately, no one 
was injured, and the soldiers who had discharged their 
guns were promptly put under arrest. 

Hardly was tranquillity restored, however, when volley 
after volley was heard from the extreme rear, and men, 
women, and children were seen flying frantically from 
the place. While running, many were shot down, and 
the wounded and dying made the late beautiful field look 
like a battle ground. The number of, killed and wounded 
was about twenty-five, including two women and one 
child. The soldiers who fired claimed that they were 
first attacked with stones, and fired upon by the crowd. 
The firing was done by Boernstein's company, and at 
the command of an officer. 

Night closed in, and hid the ghastly horrors of the 
scene. A German regiment took possession of Camp 
Jackson, and the prisoners were conducted to the 
barracks. 

The feeling in the city that night was intense. The 
most frequented streets and avenues were thronged with 
citizens in the highest state of excitement. Loud huzzas 
and occasional shots were heard in various localities. 
All public resorts were closed at dark, and the windows 
of private dwellings were fastened, in the fear of a 
general riot ; but the police succeeded in preventing 
any serious outbreak. 

Next day, General Frost and his command were 
all paroled and set at liberty, with the exception of 
Captain Emmet McDonald, who refused to take the 
oath required. 



XXXVI. 

A GOVERNOR'S FLIGHT. 

MAY 12, 1 86 1, two days after Camp Jackson was 
taken, Brigadier-General W. S. Harney, com- 
mandant of the department, returned to St. Louis from 
Washington. He approved of what Lyon had done, 
but issued a proclamation intended to conciliate all 
parties. 

Immediately after the capture of Camp Jackson, how- 
ever, the Legislature passed a law, called the " Military 
Bill," which provided for arming the militia. This law 
was cause for a second proclamation from General 
Harney. He denounced the Military Bill as "an in- 
direct secession ordinance, ignoring, even the forms 
resorted to by other States, and unconstitutional and 
void." But he declared no intention to use the soldiers 
under his command, unless forced to do so. 

Under the new military bill the governor appointed 
Sterling Price major general of the State Guard. This 
man was a former Congressman, an ex-governor of 
the State, and one of the heroes of the Mexican War. 

In order to preserve the public peace, Harney and 
Price held a conference in St. Louis on May 21. As a 
result of this meeting, both signed an agreement, by 
which the management of the State Guard was turned 
over to General Price, under direction of Governor 

245 




246 

Jackson ; and General Harney 
publicly declared that he had 
no desire to make any military 
movement " which might other- 
wise create excitement and 
jealousies." On the same day, 
General Harney issued a procla- 
mation to the people of Missouri, 
setting forth the compact, and 

stating that the forces of 

both the State and the 
\ Pn "^ ^ Federal governments were 

pledged to bring about 

peace. 

General Harney's ac- 

General Sterling Price. J 

tions were not approved 
by the national government, and he was relieved from 
the command of the post. Captain Lyon succeeded 
him. It was well that he did, for the general had 
already taken steps for removing the Federal troops 
from Missouri. Governor Jackson and General Price, 
in accordance with the arrangement, disbanded the 
State troops at Jefferson City, and ordered them home 
to drill and receive military instruction. 

The removal of General Harney and the appoint- 
ment of Captain Lyon precipitated affairs. With 
the views Jackson held, he would in any case have 
gone with the Confederate States. It is quite proba- 
ble, however, that under different circumstances Price 
would have remained what he first declared himself to 
be, a Union man. He never favored secession, and 



247 

only his loyalty to Missouri, according to his own pe- 
culiar views, forced him into the Confederate army. 

On June II, 1 86 1, there was a second conference 
between the officers of State and Federal governments. 
This interview was held at the Planters House in St. 
Louis. General Nathaniel Lyon, Colonel Francis P. 
Blair, and Major H. A. Conant represented the United 
States, while Governor C. F. Jackson, General Sterling 
Price, and Colonel Thomas L. Snead represented 
the State. An eyewitness of the scene says, — 

" Lyon advanced into the room, a little, red-haired, 
precise, positive, plain man. He sat down and crossed 
one leg over the other stiffly, and his face was serious 
and stern. He spoke each word separate from the 
other, pronouncing the little words, like my and to, 
with as much emphasis as the longer words. He 
raised his right arm automatically as the conversation 
proceeded, and brought it down with a jerk, extending 
the forefinger, yet never speaking higher or lower 
than at first. 

" ' I shall take small part in this conference,' said 
Lyon. ' Mr. Blair is familiar with this question, and 
knows the views of my government, and has its full 
confidence. What he has to say will have my support.' 

" Yet in half an hour he took the case out of Blair's 
mouth and advanced to the front, and Frank Blair 
was as dumb as Lyon had been." 

Governor Jackson's object was to prevent the enlist- 
ment of men in his State to help force the Confederate 
States back into the Union. His last attempt was to 
get Lyon to agree that neither side should recruit 



248 

troops in Missouri. Shaking his head, Lyon rose and 
in his measured, even, earnest tones said, — 

" Rather than agree that my government shall con- 
cede to your government one iota of authority as to 




one man to be recruited, one inch of soil to be divided 
in allegiance or neutralized between my government 
and your government, I will see you, Sir (pointing to 
Price), and you, Sir (pointing to Jackson), and myself, 



249 



and all of us, under the sod!" Then taking out has 
watch he glaneed at it, and added: "You shall have 
safe eonduet out of my lines for one hour. Meanwhue, 
you can get dinner. It is now three o'clock. 

The subject was beyond further discussion. Jack- 
son Price, and Snead took a hurried dinner, and left 
St 'Louis on an express train. Fearing that Lyon 
would catch them before they reached Jefferson City, 
they burned bridges and cut telegraph communications 

behind them. 

Next day, Governor Jackson issued a proclamation 
calling into active service fifty thousand militiamen "for 
the purpose of repelling invasion, and for the protection 
of the lives, liberty, and property of the citizens of the 
State " With this act the civil war in Missouri began. 

No man was ever more decisive or quick to act 
than General Lyon. On June 13, the day after Gov- 
ernor Jackson's proclamation, he started up the Mis- 
souri River with steamboats carrying fifteen hundred 
soldiers. He was accompanied by Colonel Francs P 
Blair, who commanded the First Missouri regiment of 
volunteer infantry. 

Jackson and Price were advised of their approach, and 
at once left the capital on the steamboat "White Cloudy 

On Saturday, June 15, at three o'clock p.m., the 
forces of General Lyon reached Jefferson City, disem- 
barked, and took possession of the town. But the gov- 
ernor had gone. Missouri was without a chief executive 
until July 30, .86., when the State convention appointed 
Hon Hamilton R. Gamble to fill the office. He is 
known in history as the war governor of Missouri. 



XXXVII. 
A HERO'S DEATH. 

ON June 1 6, General Lyon left Jefferson City in 
command of Colonel Henry Boernstein, and 
went up the river to Boonville with most of his troops. 
The wisdom of this prompt action may be seen from 
the fact that Price and Jackson were rapidly raising 
an army. The conference between Lyon and Jackson, 
with their associates, was on June u. On the 12th, 
Jackson issued his call for fifty thousand men. On 
the 14th, Jackson and Price left Jefferson City, and 
on the 1 6th they had collected at Boonville an army 
of three or four thousand men. A week's hesitation or 
delay would have given them an overwhelming force. 

General Price was at this time taken seriously ill, and 
left on the " White Cloud" for his residence in Chari- 
ton County. Governor Jackson and Colonel John S. 
Marmaduke, a West Point graduate, were left to resist 
the advance of Lyon and Blair. Their men were poorly 
armed, equipped, and disciplined to meet the United 
States forces, and less than half of them were at all 
prepared for immediate service ; but these " were full 
of fight," and insisted on being led against the enemy. 
Halfway from Rocheport to Boonville the two armies 
met, and Lyon began the conflict with a few rounds 

250 



251 

from Totten's artillery. The State troops were driven 
from their position again and again, but they behaved 
gallantly for raw recruits. Lyon at last forced them 
from the field, however, and they fled to Boonville. 

According to the best accounts to be had, the United 
States forces lost two killed, nine wounded, and one 
missing; their opponents had two killed and several 
wounded. This first conflict in Missouri was only a 
skirmish, and a year later would hardly have been 
noticed in an official report. 

On June 17, General Lyon occupied Boonville, and 
issued a proclamation declaring that he intended to 
use the force under his command, for no other purpose 
than the maintenance of the authority of the general 
government, and for the protection of the rights and 
property of all law-abiding citizens. 

When Jackson fled from Boonville, he went to Arrow 
Rock, in Saline County, and from there to Syracuse, 
where he gathered about him a force of sixteen hundred 
men. Lyon sent a Federal force to capture him, but 
Jackson and his men escaped to southwest Missouri. 

On July 5, 1 86 1, Colonel Franz Sigel, who had en- 
tered Jasper County, met the force under Governor 
Jackson, and Generals Rains and Parsons, near Car- 
thage. After a conflict of two hours it became dark. 
Sigel fell back into Carthage, and then to Sarcoxie. 
His loss was twenty-four killed and forty-five wounded, 
but Jackson's loss was fully as great. 

In the mean while, General Price had gone from his 
home to Lexington, and then to Arkansas, where he 
induced the Confederate McCulloch to march north to 



252 

Jackson's aid. For some time after this, southwestern 
Missouri was held by the followers of Jackson, while 
the northern and eastern parts of the State were mostly 
controlled by Union men. Each party was busily en- 
gaged in raising and equipping troops. 

Governor Jackson, after a visit to Richmond, issued 
a proclamation, in which he declared Missouri a Sover- 
eign, Free, and Independent Republic, with full 
power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, 
establish commerce, and do all other acts and things 
which an independent State may do. This was early 
in August. In October, Jackson's followers in the 
General Assembly met and adopted measures, on the 
strength of which Missouri was formally admitted to 
the Confederacy. To avoid confusion, however, the 
Jackson State troops may be called Confederates even 
before this time. 

On July 6, 1861, the authorities at Washington cre- 
ated what was called the " Western Department " in the 
army. That is, the armies in a certain number of States 
and Territories were to be commanded by one general. 
The Western Department included the State of Illinois 
and all the States and Territories west of the Missis- 
sippi and east of the Rocky Mountains, including New 
Mexico. Major-General John C. Fremont was appointed 
to command the department, with headquarters at St. 
Louis. 

Fremont was a prominent man at that time. He 
was a son-in-law of the late Senator Thomas H. Benton, 
and had made himself so famous as an explorer that 
he is known in history as the " Path Finder." He 



253 

was also the Republican candidate for President in 
1856. When the war broke out, he was in Europe; 
but he hastened to America, and on the 26th of July 
reached St. Louis. 

Meanwhile, the hero of the war in Missouri, General 
Nathaniel Lyon, was in the field guarding southern 
Missouri, ready, if need be, to lay his own body "under 
the sod" for his country. He held his command in 
the vicinity of Springfield, which was seriously threat- 
ened by a much greater force under Price, McCulloch, 
Pearce, and McBride. 

Toward the last of July, General Lyon was informed 
of the concentration of Southern troops at Cassville. 
He determined to go out and meet them with his army. 
Altogether, he had five thousand five hundred infantry, 
four hundred cavalry, and eighteen pieces of artillery ; 
but of this slender force he was compelled to leave 
enough to guard the city. The Confederate army 
under General Rains was met by Lyon at Dug Springs, 
August 2. The fight was stubborn, but at last Rains 
was forced to beat a retreat. His loss was eighty killed 
and wounded, while Lyon had eight killed and thirty 
wounded. 

After a short pursuit, General Lyon returned to 
Springfield, which point he reached August 6. Real- 
izing the overwhelming numbers which were confront- 
ing him, he had repeatedly called on General Fremont 
for reinforcements. But from rumors that reached his 
ears Fremont supposed that Cairo and Bird Point were 
threatened ; and he therefore decided not to help 
Lyon, whose small army of less than six thousand was 



254 

confronted by one twice as large, and constantly in- 
creasing. 

With a fleet of eight boats Fremont steamed down 
the river to Bird Point with all his army. No enemy 
threatened the place, and it is probable that Pillow 
had intentionally decoyed him thither to prevent his re- 
inforcing General Lyon. Fremont steamed back again 
without having seen an enemy, and many historians 
doubt if Bird Point was at any time in danger. 

The combined armies of Price and McCulloch 
marched toward Springfield, and on August 9 they 
reached Wilson Creek. Here they encamped, intend- 
ing to march against Lyon at nine next morning. It 
was their original intention to march on the town that 
night, but a storm threatened, and as the darkness was 
intense, McCulloch countermanded the order. 

The night was not too dark or stormy, however, for 
General Lyon. Left to his fate by his commander, 
he determined to strike a blow that would paralyze the 
ever-increasing enemy, if it cost him his life. Apprised 
of the advance of the Confederates, he left Springfield 
at five o'clock in the afternoon, marched through dark- 
ness and storm, and came in sight of the enemy's camp 
fires at one o'clock in the morning. He halted his men, 
and they lay on their arms until daylight, and then 
quickly formed. 

The morning attack by Lyon and Sigel was a com- 
plete surprise to the Confederates, whose outposts were 
quickly driven in. Totten's battery opened a terrible 
fire, and the forests and hills seemed ablaze. Union 
skirmishers were thrown forward, and Lyon's forces 



255 

advanced, the firing increasing until the column com- 
manded by him was warmly engaged. The constant 
rolling volleys, the deafening echoes, shouts, and 
groans made a terrible din. At times, Lyon's column 
was wrapped in smoke. 

The sun rose and looked down on the fearful con- 
flict. The fields and woods were covered with slain, 
and still the battle raged. Sometimes the Union forces 
seemed on the verge of victory, then overwhelming odds 
drove them back, in spite of all Lyon's skill and valor. 

In the mean while the troops under Sigel had been 
put to flight. Their guns were heard over the hill for 
a while, then became silent, and every one asked, — 

" Where is Sigel?" 

While endeavoring to rally the Union lines which 
had been thrown into confusion, on the left of Tot- 
ten's battery, General Lyon was wounded in the leg 
and head, and his horse was killed. Though the 
wounds were slight, he bled profusely. He bound 
a handkerchief about his head, and Major Sturgis 
dismounted one of his orderlies, and gave his horse 
to the general. 

Some Iowa troops had lost their colonel, and were 
in confusion. They were ordered to charge the ad- 
vancing Confederates. 

"We have no leader," cried some one. 

" Come on ! I will lead you ! " shouted General 
Lyon, and waving his hat he once more shouted, 
" Come on ! " 

It was near nine o'clock ; and Lyon, for the first time 
doubtful, yet brave to the last, led in the attack. He 



256 



rode his horse between the First Kansas and 
Iowa regiments, waving his sword, and shoutin: 




First 
and 



urging the soldiers on to the 



conflict. He wore a 
white felt hat and his 
old captain's uniform. 
He looked stunned and 
white, yet brave and de- 
fiant, and shouted re- 
peatedly, — 
" Come on ! " 
The blood was tric- 
kling down one side of his face. 
He had gone about one hundred 
,- yards, when a bullet struck him in 
the breast, inflicting a fatal wound. 
As he slowly dismounted and fell into 
the arms of his bodyguard, he gasped, — 
" Lehman, I'm going ! " 

Captain Herron asked him if he was much hurt. 
" No," he answered. But he probably did not know 
what he said ; for he died almost immediately. 

Sturgis took command, and drove the Confederates 
back four hundred yards ; but, in the end, the Union 
forces were compelled to retreat to Rolla. The loss 
on the Union side was about one thousand, and on 
the other side much greater. The conflict at Wilson 
Creek was the first great battle in Missouri. 

General Lyon's body was first buried at Springfield, 
but was afterwards reinterred with great military honors 
at Eastford, Connecticut, his old home. 



w 



XXXVIII. 

WAR IN THE NORTH. 

HILE war was raging in the south and southwest, 
north Missouri for a time enjoyed comparative 
peace Union troops were constantly being enlisted, 
and detachments of them were stationed at various 
towns. One regiment, commanded by Colonel David 
Moore, was posted at Athens, in Clark County 

At the same time, too, some soldiers were being 
enlisted on the other side ; among them was a regiment 
under Colonel Martin E. Greene, who determined to 
drive the Union troops out of Athens. 

About sunrise, August 5, 1861, Greene's advance 
guard attacked Moore's pickets, and drove them in. 
Then the main force in two wings came up, and the 
conflict became general. 

It was a fight between Missourians, for there were 
scarcely a dozen men from any other State on the field. 
Many of them had been friends and neighbors. Even 
fathers, sons, and brothers were arrayed against one 
another Colonel David Moore himself had a son, 
William, who was a captain under the Confederate 
Colonel Greene, and who fought against his father in 
this conflict. It is said that as Greene was marching on 
Athens, some of his officers remarked in Captain Moore s 
hearing, — 

STO. OF MO.— 17 257 



258 



" Now, boys, we'll have old Moore without firing a 
gun." To which the son quickly responded, — 

" No, you won't. If you think dad won't fight, you 
are mistaken. I know the old man too well." 

His father did fight, and sent the son, his colonel, and 
their men flying in confusion, with considerable loss. 
The fight at Athens, though really little more than a 
skirmish, was important as being the first in which 
brother grappled with brother in north Missouri. 

Colonel Mulligan of the Union forces had fortified 
Lexington, in Lafayette County, just south of the river, 
and thither the Confederates under Price were moving. 
Greene and all the forces of the Confederates from the 
northern part of the State were also moving in that 
direction. Mulligan threw up intrenchments on Ma- 



sonic College 
prises about : 

/ e-usz 




steadily advanced. 



Hill, an eminence which corn- 
fifteen acres adjoining the 
city on the north- 
east, and overlook- 
ing the Missouri 
River. 
On September 12, 
1 86 1, Price attacked 
the Union works. He 
met with a strong re- 
sistance, but by rolling 
forward hempen bales, 
soaked to keep them 
from taking fire, he 
Mulligan, like Lyon, had appealed 



in vain for reinforcements, and after a siege of fifty- 



259 

two hours, he surrendered on the 20th. The conflict 
had been stubborn, but the loss was not great. Forty 
Union men were killed, and one hundred and twenty 
wounded, while the Confederate loss was twenty killed 
and seventy-five wounded. Price, however, captured 
many arms and great military stores in the town. 

On September 27, General Fremont, with twenty 
thousand men, advanced toward southwest Missouri; 
and on the 30th General Price marched south toward 
Arkansas, leaving a garrison of five hundred in posses- 
sion of Lexington. Only four days later, the town was 
reoccupied by the Union forces. 

This left the northern part of the State in peace until 
186- Early that year, Colonel Jo Porter, knowing that 
there were many sympathizers with the Southern cause 
north of the Missouri, crossed the river with about 
eighty men for the purpose of rallying a Confederate 
force. Reinforcements flocked to his standard so rap- 
idly that if they could have gone south of the river, 
they would have added very materially to Price's army ; 
but the country was held by Union troops, and Porter 
was compelled to fight many battles. 

Colonel Lipscomb, with about four hundred and fifty 
militia, attacked Porter's men in June at Cherry Grove, 
in Schuyler County, and drove them into Knox County. 
Then followed a skirmish at Pierces Mill, then one at 

Florida. 

Though Porter was nearly all the time on the retreat, 
he was rapidly recruiting. Poindexter, another Confed- 
erate, was raising troops in the northwestern part of the 
State' while Porter was at work in the northeast, and it 



26o 

was the intention of these two officers to unite their 
forces, and then join Price. 

Colonel Odon Guitar of the Missouri State militia 
attacked Porter at Moores Mill in Callaway County, 
July 28, 1862. Guitar being reinforced by Lieutenant- 
Colonel Shaffer, Porter was driven from the thick woods 
in which he was posted, and retreated north. 

Colonel John H. McNiel was at this time at Mexico, 
in Audrain County. With detachments of the Ninth 
Missouri State militia under Captain Leonard, and one 
hundred of the " Merrills Horse " under Lieutenant- 
Colonel Shaffer, he gave chase to Porter. Through 
Honeywell and Shelbina, and into Lewis County, McNiel 
pressed the Confederates. Porter attacked a force of 
militia in a brick house at Newark, and after a sharp 
fight captured them, with about three hundred stands of 
arms. The prisoners were paroled. McNiel was close 
at hand, so Porter hastily left town and marched toward 
Memphis, Scotland County. 

He marched to within three miles of the town, and 
then, finding McNiel too close in the rear, suddenly 
turned southwest toward Kirksville, in Adair County. 
McNiel's army, by forced marches, came within a few 
miles of the Confederates on the evening of August 5, 
1862, and went into camp. 

At early dawn, the Union forces were in the saddle. 
Lieutenant J. G. Jamison, with Company B, Ninth 
Missouri State militia, started in advance, and soon 
came upon the smoldering camp fires of the enemy. 
They pressed on, and about eleven o'clock, when three 
or four miles from Kirksville, they came in sight of a 



26 1 

few of Porter's rear guard who were engaged in tearing 
up a bridge. Jamison opened fire on them, and wounded 
one man ; and the others fled. 

In half an hour, the advance of the Union forces were 
within a quarter of a mile of the town, and were form- 
ing in line of battle on an open meadow east of Kirks- 
ville, when the main body came up. McNiel and his 
staff rode down a slight descent toward a cornfield, 
when some shots were fired at them, and drove them 
back. 

Not a Confederate was in sight. The quiet little vil- 
lage seemed uninhabited. A cow was peacefully graz- 
ing on the common, and a calf could be seen sporting 
in the yard of a house near by. The Union line was 
just west of the two-story house of Mr. Oldham, which 
is still standing. 

Three or four puffs of smoke issued from behind a 
wood pile in the east part of the town, and some musket 
balls flew over the heads of the Union troops. One of 
the balls struck a window sill in the Oldham house. 
McNiel was still at a loss to locate the position of the 
enemy, so he called for volunteers to ride forward in 
the hope of rousing them. A lieutenant of the Merrills 
Horse, with ten men, rode out from the line. 

At the word " Forward ! " the lieutenant and his brave 
followers dashed down under the hill on the northeast 
part of the town, and were off like the wind. For a 
moment they were lost to view. Then came the rapid 
discharge of firearms, and rattling volleys. The men 
were seen to ride past a cornfield, nearer to the town. 
Every one held his breath, expecting that the whole 



262 



band would be annihilated ; but a moment later they 
were seen galloping back with not a saddle emptied. 
Right back into the ranks they flew. Then one horse, 
which had been shot through, sank dead, and a wounded 
cavalryman fell fainting from his saddle. 

The howitzers meanwhile had been playing on the 
town with little effect except to kill the calf that was 
playing in the yard. On the return of the lieutenant 
and his cavalrymen, McNiel said, — 

" Advance and take the town, house by house, and 




keep yourselves in line as well as possible. 

The order was given to march, j^ and the en- 
emy opened fire. A wide expanse of meadow had 
to be crossed, in the face of raking volleys from the 
Confederates. The Union soldiers crossed the com- 
mon, and drove the enemy from house to house and 



263 

from street to street until Porter's forces were pushed 
into the wood west of the town. 

The Confederate loss was about three hundred killed 
and wounded, and two hundred made prisoners. Mc- 
Niel had eight killed and a large number wounded. 

On the 7th of August, the day after the battle, 
McNiel had sixteen of the prisoners shot for having 
been paroled and again taking up arms against their 
country. On the 8th, he marched his force to Macon 
City. Meanwhile Porter and the remnant of his army, 
about twenty-five hundred men, crossed the Chariton 
at Sloans Point, and hurried westward, hoping to form 
a junction with Poindexter. 

Colonel Guitar, with a considerable force and some 
pieces of artillery, came upon the Confederates at 
Comptons Ferry and drove them back toward the 
Chariton again. They crossed at Sees Ford, and there 
made a stand against Guitar, who did not cross the 
river. 

Three hours after McNiel went down the road to 
Macon City, Porter's army crossed the road in his rear 
at Blanket Grove. After a little more insignificant 
skirmishing, he disbanded all his men, except his origi- 
nal company of eighty, with which number he crossed 
the river and joined Price. 



XXXIX. 
ORDER NUMBER ELEVEN. 

THERE were many cruel acts during the war, but 
perhaps the most cruel was what was known as 
"General Ewing's Special Order Number Eleven." 
There have been several excuses offered for this order, 
but before one can understand either it, or the excuses 
offered for it, a sketch of the war is essential. 

Fremont was succeeded by Hunter in command of 
the Western Department November 2, 1861. Five 
days later, Grant defeated the Confederates at Belmont. 

Price, McCulloch, and Van Dorn, having concen- 
trated their forces at a place called Elk Horn Tavern 
(or Pea Ridge) in Arkansas, were attacked by General 
Curtis on March 6, 1862. The Confederates were 
defeated with heavy losses, General McCulloch being 
killed, and Price wounded. 

At Springfield, Missouri, in January, 1863, and at 
Cape Girardeau the following April, General Marma- 
duke of the Confederate army was repulsed. In 
August of the same year, the Confederate General 
Jeff Thompson was captured. 

Thus the Confederate forces were nearly all driven 
out of Missouri during the first two years of the war; 
but the State was not at peace. The long border war- 

264 



265 

fare carried on between 1856 and 1861 was now bearing 
terrible fruit. The jay hawkers and guerrillas, who 
began to plunder and kill four years before the war, 
doubled their acts of violence after it had begun. 

They became widely known as guerrillas on one side 
and militia plunderers on the other. Of course, how- 
ever, all the militia were not plunderers. Many thou- 
sands of the bravest and best soldiers in the Union 
army were from the Missouri militia. But there were 
two or three border regiments, composed mostly of men 
who had been jayhawkers, who did but little fighting, 
and a good deal of pillaging from persons supposed to 
be in sympathy with the people of the South. On the 
Confederate side, there were large bands of guerrillas 
and bushwhackers, who carried on a war of plunder 
and extermination. 

The last named were under such notorious chiefs as 
William Quantrell, George Todd, and Bill Anderson. 
Their usual mode of warfare was to lie at the roadside 
in a thicket, and fire on small parties of soldiers as they 
passed. 

In 1863, Quantrell's guerrillas seemed to be the only 
Confederates capable of holding their position in Mis- 
souri. The chief would concentrate his force in a few 
hours, and strike a paralyzing blow at his enemy ; then 
the band would scatter and vanish as if the earth had 
swallowed them up. The secret of their disappearance 
was that in Jackson, Bates, Cass, and Clay counties 
the guerrillas had many friends, who evidently sheltered 
them and concealed them from their pursuers. 

The object of the guerrillas was to harass the Union 



266 



soldiers and prevent them from concentrating against 
Price. The Union officers discovered, that, while they 
could keep the Confederate armies out of the State, it 
was impossible to drive out the guerrillas. 

" They live like rats in holes in the ground," one 
officer declared after a long and useless chase. 

The many terrible and daring deeds of the guerrillas 

would fill a large book. It is said that one of them, 

disguised as an old woman, rode into Independence on 

horseback when the town was filled with soldiers. The 

long riding skirt hid his boots, 

and all went well until he 

; started to leave the town. 



■■-:: 







Just as he 



was 



ridim 



past one of the first sen- 
tries, a sudden puff of 
wind lifted his skirts, 
and displayed his boots 
and spurs. 

" It's a man ! It's a 
man ! " cried one of the 
sentries. 

Being discovered, the 
guerrilla made no fur- 
ther effort to disguise 
himself. Throwing him- 
self astride the horse, he 
took the rein in his teeth, and 
revolver in each hand, and 



started at full speed away from the town. 
"Halt! halt! halt!" shouted the sentry. 



267 

As the guerrilla paid no heed to the command, the 
sentry fired at him, the ball whizzing close to the ear 
of the fleeing man. The outside pickets were roused 
by the firing ; but, seeing a woman riding furiously 
toward them, they hesitated for a moment to shoot. 

That moment's delay was fatal. The disguised 
guerrilla fired a stream of shots from each revolver, 
mortally wounding two of the guards, while the third 
saved himself by leaping into a thicket. The guerrilla 
escaped. 

With all the guerrillas Quantrell could gather (about 
five hundred) he marched to Lawrence, Kansas, burned 
the town, and killed a number of men, women, and chil- 
dren (August 13, 1863). 

So terrible a scourge had these bands become, that 
it was thought necessary to resort to some extreme 
measures in order to rid the country of them. Gen- 
eral Thomas Ewing was at this time in command of 
the military district of which Kansas City formed the 
center. On the 25th clay of August, 1863, he issued 
an order called Special Order Number Eleven. 

This was to the effect that all persons living in Cass, 
Jackson, and Bates counties, Missouri, and in that part 
of Vernon included in the "district of the border," were 
ordered to leave their houses within fifteen days, unless 
they lived within one mile of the limits of Independence, 
Hickman Mills, Pleasant Hill, or Harrisonville, or in 
that part of Kaw Township, Jackson County, north of 
Brush Creek and west of the Big Blue, including 
Kansas City and Westport. Those who could prove 
their loyalty were to be granted permission to live at 



268 

some military post, but those who could not were to 
leave the district. All grain and hay found in the 
fields were to be taken to military stations. All prod- 
ucts of the farm not thus removed by the 9th of Sep- 
tember were to be destroyed. 

This was an act more cruel in many cases than tak- 
ing life, for thousands of helpless women and children 
were made homeless. Eviction followed close upon 
the order. The guerrilla warfare which had raged for 
two years on the border had driven away many of the 
people in these counties, and this order entirely depopu- 
lated them. Many were the scenes of suffering and 
wretchedness caused by the evictions. These have 
been rendered famous by Mr. George C. Bingham, 
"the Missouri artist," in his great painting entitled 
"Order No. 11." 

A soldier who was forced to drive the poor people 
from their homes, among other incidents, describes the 
following, — 

" We were sent to remove a family living in Cass 
County. Unfortunately, our commanding officer was 
an unprincipled, brutal fellow, who was nearly always 
under the influence of liquor. We reached the house 
shortly after dark. 

" There were no men about the place. Two frightened 
women and four or five children were the only occu- 
pants of the house. We surrounded the building, and 
the lieutenant went to the door and rapped on it with 
his sword hilt. A woman came to the window and 
asked, — 

" ' What do you want ? ' 



269 

" ' Why haven't you moved according to orders ? ' the 
officer demanded. 

" ' We are all sick, and there are no men here,' she 
answered. 

"The officer swore some ugly oaths, and said they 
should be moved out at once. The women begged 
him to let them remain until daylight. We interceded 
for them, and the lieutenant finally agreed that they 
might stay ; but he broke down the door, and searched 
the house for arms and men, swearing he would kill 
every man he found. 

" The search proved fruitless. When it was over, the 
half-drunken officer stood in the door abusing the cower- 
ing women, who, pale and trembling, crept back to the 
bed, and remained mute. While our intoxicated lieu- 
tenant was making terrible threats, there appeared at 
one of the windows the sad face of a child. She 
was not over five years of age, but had the thoughtful 
demeanor of an adult. With her elbow resting on the 
window sill, and her head leaning on her hand, she 
gazed upon us. Her little pinched face was very pale. 
Her large, tearless eyes were sad, and she heaved such 
sighs and looked so sorrowful that she would have 
melted any heart that was human. 

" I could no more look on that child and restrain my 
tears than I could quit breathing. I called the attention 
of several of my comrades to her, and not an eye that 
beheld her was dry. Next morning we drove the family 
away, burned their house, and destroyed all their prop- 
erty. Heaven only knows what the fate of those women 
and children was." 



270 

The counties included in General Ewing's Special 
Order Number Eleven were almost completely devas- 
tated. For years after the war, only blackened chim- 
neys and abandoned orchards remained to tell where 
happy homes had once been. What became of all the 
people driven away from their possessions, is not known. 

Nearly every one, probably, has read of the eviction 
of the Acadians, as described by Longfellow in his 
beautiful poem, " Evangeline." Scores of stories fully 
as sad as " Evangeline " might be written of Ewing's 
Order Number Eleven. 

Fortunately, some of the soldiers sent to enforce the 
order were honest and kind. In one instance, when the 
women and children had been driven from the house, 
and the building set on fire, a woman went to a soldier 
who had shown more of a gentlemanly spirit than the 
others, and said, — 

" There is three hundred and thirty dollars in gold 
in the front room." 

" What part of the room is it in ? " he asked. 

" The southeast corner, under the carpet. The bureau 
is over it." 

The flames were roaring about the building, the room 
was already full of smoke, and blazes were licking 
the sides of the door, when the soldier ran into the 
house. 

The upper story was already ablaze, and bits of 
burning wood were dropping down from above. The 
woman was sorry she had told him of the money, 
for it seemed as if it would be impossible for him to 
escape from the burning building. But a few moments 



271 

later, he leaped from the flames, and, leading her aside, 
placed the money in her hands. 

"Take it," whispered the noble soldier. "Don't let 
the others know it ; for there are some who would take 
it from you." 

"Won't you take some of it? " she began. 

" Not a cent. You will need it all before this is 
over." 

Such heroic deeds lighten the darkest page in the 
history of Missouri. War develops the true nature of 
men. Those naturally brutal are made more so by it, 
while those brave and gentle become heroes. 

If General Ewing's Order Number Eleven was in- 
tended to end the guerrilla warfare, it was a miserable 
failure. The ruined district became a great desert 
which the guerrillas made their rendezvous, and their 
depredations became more terrible than they had ever 
been before. 



XL. 



END OF THE WAR. 



■ 




DURING the years 1863 
and 1864 there were 



many skirmishes in Mis- 
souri, but no great battles. 
Large Confederate ar- 
1 mies were kept out of 
the State, but the Union 
forces found it im- 
possible to keep down 
the prowling bands 
of bushwhackers and 
guerrillas. Their dep- 
redations made it neces- 
sary to maintain a standing 
army in the State. 
For the most part, military operations in 1864 degen- 
erated into a savage guerrilla warfare. The greatest 
outrage committed by the Confederate outlaws was the 
robbing of Centralia, September 27, 1864, and the mas- 
sacre of a large number of Federal soldiers. 

Bill Anderson, with about four hundred guerrillas, 
went to the farm of Mr. M. G. Singleton, a few miles 
from Centralia, on the night of September 26. Early 

272 



273 

next morning, small scouting parties proceeded to the 
village and began taking horses and robbing stores. 

An hour or so later, Anderson and the others also 
went to Centralia, which was on what was then the 
North Missouri Railroad, — now a part of the Wabash 
system. About eleven o'clock the stagecoach from 
Columbia arrived at the village. The guerrillas sur- 
rounded it with cocked revolvers, crying, — 

" Out with your pocketbooks ! " 

The passengers were robbed, and the horses taken 
from the stage. About half past eleven the train from 
St. Louis came in sight. Bill Anderson placed his men 
along the railroad; and, as the train approached the 
depot, they began throwing ties across the track. 

There were twenty-three soldiers on the train. Most 
of them were on sick furloughs, going to their homes 
in north Missouri or Iowa. A big sergeant glanced 
out of the car window as the train began to slow up, 
and cried, — 

"There is Bill Anderson, boys. Now prepare to die." 

He drew a revolver, and would have defended him- 
self, had he not been dissuaded from doing so, on 
account of the women and children on board. The 
train stopped, and the guerrillas robbed the passengers. 
The soldiers were taken from the cars, marched to the 
town, and formed in a line. At the word " Fire ! " 
Anderson and three or four others began shooting 
them. Several tried to escape, and others begged for 
their lives. One man ran under the depot platform, 
but the building was set on fire, and as he came out 
he was shot in the head. 

STO. OF MO. — I 8 



274 

Having killed all the soldiers, robbed the town, and 
burned the depot and train, Anderson and his men 
retired to the woods about six or eight miles west of 
Centralia. 

Major Johnson, of the Thirty-ninth Missouri U. S. 
volunteers, entered the town with about one hundred 
and seventy-five raw recruits a short time after Ander- 
son had left. Incensed by the barbarous acts of the 
guerrillas, Johnson determined to follow and attack 
them with his inferior force. It is said, that, as he was 
leaving Centralia for that purpose, a young girl sprang 
before him, and, seizing his horse's bridle, begged him 
with tears in her eyes not to go. He heeded not her 
warning, but led his soldiers across the prairie to battle. 

An hour later, Major Johnson and one hundred and 
thirty-eight of his men were lying dead on the prairie, 
and the remainder of his command was flying north- 
ward to Renick, a small town ten miles from Centralia. 



Early in September, 1864, it became evident that 
General Sterling Price, who was in the northern part 
of Arkansas, intended to invade Missouri. General 
Rosecrans, who was now in command of the Union 
forces in Missouri, had not soldiers enough to repel so 
large an army as Price was reported to have. The 
War Department realized the situation of Rosecrans, 
and sent General A. J. Smith, with six thousand men, 
to reinforce him. 

About the middle of September, Price entered Mis- 
souri with a considerable army, and marched on Pilot 



275 

Knob where a brigade of Union troops under General 
H S. Ewing was stationed. Ewing resisted two of 
Price's assaults, but finally was driven from Pilot Knob, 
and fled northwest. His men marched sixty miles in 
thirty-nine hours. They then reached the Southeast- 
ern Railroad at Harrison, where they hoped to get a 
few hours' rest, but were disappointed. The Confed- 
erate General Jo Shelby had been close at their heels, 
and here he overtook them and attacked them furi- 
ously Ewing's exhausted troops defended themselves 
for thirty hours, and then reinforcements from Rolla 
came and drove Shelby away. 

Price meanwhile, advanced boldly in a northerly di- 
rection,' driving the small detachments of Union troops 
before him. For some time it was a matter of doubt 
which the Confederate general intended to attack, Jef- 
ferson City or St. Louis. He marched to Richwoods, 
within forty miles of St. Louis, in order to draw the 
Union generals in that direction. Then he made a 
sudden flank movement, and began a rapid march 
toward Jefferson City, burning the bridges behind him 
as he went; and he reached the place before his pur- 
suers could overtake him. 

The Union officers, however, were not outgeneraled 
by Price. Some of the best in the State believed from 
the first that the wily Confederate intended to seize the 
State capital. General Brown, with a small force of 
Union troops, was stationed there, and General Fisk, 
with such force as he could gather about him, hastened 
to his aid. General Rosecrans ordered all the enrolled 
militia, and such other troops as could be spared, to 



276 

march at once to Jefferson City ; and General A. J. 
Smith, with about six thousand Union soldiers, was 
close after Price even as he marched on the capital. 

When the Confederate army reached the Moreau 
River, five miles below the capital, it encountered the 
outposts of the Union army under Brown and Fisk. 
After a slight skirmish, Price crossed the river and 
advanced on the city. Birt the forces of Brown and 
Fisk, with the aid of citizens from all the country 
round, had thrown up breastworks and planted batter- 
ies, which it would take the Confederates too long to 
capture. General Price found himself about to be 
caught in a trap, between Brown and Fisk on one side, 
and Smith on the other ; so he marched on westward. 

Though retreating, Price was not defeated. General 
Jo Shelby, one of his officers, captured the town of 
Glasgow, and Price himself defeated Curtis at the Little 
Blue Creek, October 20. On the 23d, however, the 
Union cavalry defeated Price's rear guard and drove 
the Confederates out of Independence, Jackson County. 

From Independence, General Price retreated south 
into Arkansas. His retreat was well conducted, and 
was almost one continuous fight from Jefferson City to 
the Arkansas line. During that retreat two notorious 
guerrillas, George Todd and Bill Anderson, were killed. 

Except for skirmishes with bands of guerrillas, the 
departure of Price from Missouri ended the war in that 
State. And only about six months later came the sur- 
render of Lee and other generals, after which there was 
peace throughout the nation. 



XLI. 
THE IRONCLAD OATH. 

FOR four years Missouri had been under military 
government. The people had become thoroughly 
tired of it, and at the same time there was a demand 
for a change in the State constitution. Even before 
the war ended, the party in power was anxious to bring 
some amendments before the people. 

At the November election in 1864, the people chose 
delegates to a State constitutional convention. The 
members of this body — sixty-six in number — met in 
the Mercantile Library Hall, in the city of St. Louis, 
January 6, 1865. After passing an ordinance abol- 
ishing slavery, they framed what was known as the 
" Drake constitution," so called from the name of their 
vice president. The disfranchising portions of the in- 
strument were called the " Draconian code." 

The third section of the Drake constitution provided 
that no one who had ever participated in the Rebellion 
against the United States, or had given aid, comfort, 
countenance, or support to persons engaged in it, or 
who had ever sympathized with the cause, or with those 
engaged in the cause, should be permitted to hold office 
or vote at any election. 

Section five required that every one who wished to 
vote or hold office should first make oath that he 

277 



278 

was familiar with the third section of the constitution, 
and had never violated any of its provisions. This 
was commonly called the " ironclad oath," or "test 
oath." 

Not only were disqualifications provided for voters 
and officeholders, but persons unable to take the oath 
were prohibited from pursuing certain vocations. No 
one could practice law, or hold an office in any corpo- 
ration, or engage as a professor or teacher in any edu- 
cational institution, public or private school, unless he 
or she first took the oath ; and it was also required of 
ministers of the gospel, and even of Sunday-school 
teachers, male and female. 

Notwithstanding the many objectionable features of 
the constitution, it contained some valuable provisions. 
The section on education was one of the wisest enacted 
by any convention. One of its provisions, which many 
regret was not retained in the present constitution, was 
to the effect that after a certain length of time no one 
should be permitted to vote who could not write his 
own name, and read the ballot he proposed to vote. 

An election was held June 6, 1865, for the acceptance 
or rejection of the constitution. All who voted were 
required to take the " ironclad oath " before doing so. 
This was very unfair, because it put in force a measure 
before it really became a law. The constitution was 
adopted by a majority of less than two thousand. 

Some of the best Union men in the State opposed it. 
General F. P. Blair, the brave soldier who did more, 
perhaps, than any other man to keep the State in the 
Union, refused to take the "ironclad oath," and became 



279 

its bitterest opposer. Like many others, he believed in 
forgiving an erring brother who had fought on the Con- 
federate side, and in granting him full citizenship, now 
that the war was over. 

It soon became apparent that a division in the 
Republican party would follow the extreme measures 
taken by the faction in power, called " Radicals." In 
1870, this section of the party renominated Joseph W. 
McClurg for governor, and the other faction, which 
was opposed to the Drake constitution, nominated B. 
Gratz Brown. The latter faction was called the Lib- 
eral Republican party. The Democrats had no ticket 
in the field this year, as their party was too weak to 
hope for success ; but most of them supported Brown 
and his followers, who promised to repeal the " iron- 
clad oath" and all laws growing out of it. The Lib- 
eral Republican ticket was elected, and the objection- 
able disqualifications were in due time repealed. 

There is a story told of an old man who had been 
disfranchised by the " ironclad oath," which illustrates 
the feeling entertained by some of the people of Mis- 
souri in regard to it. The old man was very sick. His 
relatives and friends had given up all hope of his re- 
covery, and even the doctor was in despair. 

The election of 1870 came off while he was in the 
most critical stage. The returns were being announced 
in the village, and some one came into the sick-room 
and whispered that the Republicans were defeated. 

"What is that?" asked the old man who was sup- 
posed to be dying. 

"The Republicans are defeated, Uncle Isaac — " 



28o 



" Thank the Lord for that ! " 

" Don't excite yourself, Uncle. You are very sick, 
and may not recover if — " 

" Recover ! " cried the sick man, starting up in bed. 
" Do you think I'm going to die, when there's a chance 




for me to vote again? No; I'll live to see the ironclad 
oath smashed to flinders." 

The old man recovered, and lived to exercise again 
the rights of citizenship at the polls. He often 
declared, — 

" I couldn't die until Missouri was free from that 
pernicious ironclad oath ! " 



XLII. 
RESTORATION OF PROSPERITY. 

A FTER the year 1864, Missouri was at peace, ex- 
A cept for the bands of robbers who were the out- 
growth of the guerrillas. For uearly twenty years 
these ex-guerrillas or bandits committed the boldest 
depredations. They plundered village banks in broad 
daylight, and on one occasion boldly robbed the treas- 
urer of the Kansas City Fair Association in the midst of 
thousands of people. They stopped railway trams and 
stagecoaches, and murdered and robbed the passengers. 
So formidable did these desperate brigands become, 
that for a while they checked immigration, but, one 
after another, they were killed or captured, until their 
number was greatly reduced. 

On April 3, 1882, Jesse James, the reputed chief of 
the Missouri outlaws, was killed at St. Joseph. The 
deed was committed by two members of his own band, 
who slew him for the reward offered for him, dead or 

" On the 9 th of June following, a band of masked men 
who had robbed the Brookfield bank in broad daylight, 
were captured in Adair County. A few weeks later, 
Frank James, a brother of Jesse James, surrendered to 
Governor Crittenden, at Jefferson City. This put an 
end to an organized banditti in Missouri. 



282 

Although the outlaws were a check on the prosperity 
of the State, they did not by any means wholly restrain 
it. With the dawn of peace came a revival of business 
in every line. The soldiers, returning with their back 
pay and bounties, began to put into cultivation large 
tracts of wild lands, never before touched with the plow. 
Some of the returned soldiers became carpenters, some 
merchants, some school-teachers, and many blacksmiths ; 
but a large majority of them were farmers. 

A large number had gone to the war as boys, but re- 
turned men, to make homes. New farms were laid out 
everywhere. Villages almost destroyed during the war 
were rebuilt, and grew into towns and cities, while new 
villages sprang up and rapidly became prosperous. 

Railroads which had been begun before the war were 
completed, and new railroads were surveyed and built. 
People seemed to have gone mad over the building of 
them. Nearly every county in the State, and in fact 
nearly every village, held railroad meetings, and offered 
inducements to railroad companies. 

Bonds were recklessly voted for the purpose. Sub- 
scriptions by counties and individuals were enormous, 
and the State would have been bankrupt had not the 
General Assembly wisely enacted laws preventing 
counties from voting stock and bonds. 

The reckless speculations in this period of prosperity 
caused men to become dishonest. Many county obliga- 
tions were voted, for which no railroad was ever built, 
and it will take years for the people of those districts 
to pay off such fraudulent debts. Occasionally county 
officials became corrupt, and were bribed to issue bonds 



283 

dishonestly. This in one case resulted in the death of 
the guilty parties. The people of Cass County, exas- 
perated to madness by the fraudulent issue of county 
bonds, which imposed heavy burdens on the taxpayers 
without giving them any substantial benefit, resolved 
on vengeance. 

It was charged that the plan had been made by Mr. 
James C. Cline, the county attorney. Bonds to the 
amount of several hundred thousand dollars had been 
issued by the county court, sold, and the money appro- 
priated by the county officials. The accused were in- 
dicted and placed under heavy bail for their appearance 
at court for trial; but many people feared that they 
would escape just punishment, and when it was learned 
that some of the parties to the fraud were going to 
Gunn City on a railway train, a large body of men, 
masked and armed, gathered at the village. 

Gunn City is on the Missouri, Kansas, and Texas Rail- 
way, about eleven miles east of Harrisonville, the county 
seat of Cass County. There were about thirty pas- 
sengers on board the train, and among them were 
James C. Cline, Thomas E. Detro, J. C. Stephenson, 
and General Jo Shelby. Stephenson was one of the 
judges of the court, and a party to the fraudulent issue 
of bonds. Cline was the county attorney, and Detro 
was one of his bondsmen. 

When the train entered Gunn City, the engineer saw 
a great pile of rails, stones, and logs on the track. At 
the same moment a volley of bullets was fired at the 
locomotive, and he lost no time in bringing the train to 
a standstill. Then seventy masked men ran forward, 



284 

and while some of them drove the engineer and the 
fireman from their posts, the others kept up a terrible 
fire on the captured train, causing the innocent pas- 
sengers to quake with fear. 

" Where is Cline ? Give us Cline ! Come out, Cline, 
and show your cowardly face ! " shouted the mob. 

Cline was hiding in the baggage car. He had been 




warned not to appear in Gunn City, but he laughed at 
the fears of his friends. From the moment the train 
stopped, he knew he was doomed, and he soon deter- 
mined to meet his fate boldly. Stepping out upon the 
platform, he said, — 

" Here I am." 

A yell went up from the mob, and a volley was fired 
at him, while he was trying to draw his revolver to 



285 

defend himself. Pierced by half a dozen bullets, he fell 
from the platform among his enemies, and expired. 

Breaking in the doors and windows of the cars, and 
threatening to burn the train, the angry mob rushed in 
among the frightened passengers, yelling, — 

" Where are the bond robbers?" 

"Turn out the bond thieves!" 

Judge Stephenson was discovered in a passenger car. 
They shot him down and dragged him out upon the 
grass, where they again fired upon him until he died. 
Mr. Detro, Cline's bondsman, was the next victim. He 
was found in the mail car, where he was fired on, and 
mortally wounded. He was then dragged to the road, 
and allowed to bleed to death. 

Again the mob ran into the train, yelling, - 

" Where is General Shelby ? Where is Jo Shelby ? " 

General Shelby, who had not moved from his seat, 
coolly answered, — 

" Here I am ; if you want me, come and get me." 

His tone and manner were so defiant that they de- 
cided to leave him alone. The only excuse the -mob 
could have had for molesting General Shelby was that 
he had been engaged as counsel for some of the accused 
officials. 

Governor Brown and the State authorities made 
every effort to bring the murderers to justice, but in 
vain. They were never identified. 

The summary manner in which these bond swindlers 
were punished put a check upon the reckless issue of 
bonds by counties. It is certain that the railroad craze 
in Missouri was carried much too far. Great good has 



286 

resulted from the numerous railroads built in the State, 
but many counties heaped up debts that future genera- 
tions of taxpayers will have to liquidate. 



Railroads were not the only improvements following 
close on the heels of peace. Manufactures of almost 
every kind started up in the State. Woolen mills, 
cotton mills, boot and shoe factories, hat factories, small 
and large, were put in operation all over Missouri. 

Mining for iron, lead, zinc, and coal was resumed, 
among the many other industries, and it seemed as if 
the metal age had come. The iron industries were 
pushed to a greater extent than ever before. The Iron 
Mountain and Pilot Knob iron works were put in 
operation shortly after the close of the war, and rolling 
mills and iron mills were started, which have done a 
prosperous business ever since. Missouri iron has long- 
been in competition with the Pittsburg iron, and for 
many years large quantities of it were shipped to Indi- 
ana, Ohio, and many other States east, south, and west. 
With her inexhaustible mines, Missouri is capable of 
competing with the world in the iron industry. 

Among the improvements begun soon after the war 
was the construction of a gigantic bridge across the 
Mississippi River at St. Louis, to accommodate foot 
passengers, horses, vehicles, and railway trains. On 
October 27, 1869, the eastern pier of the bridge was 
laid with imposing ceremonies. 

In order to lay the piers on solid rock in the bottom 
of the river, great water-tight boxes or caissons were 



287 

made. These were sunk in the water at the places 
where the piers were to be, until the lower edges were 
deep in the muddy bottom. 

Steam pumps were then set to work, to pump the 
water out of the caissons. When this was accomplished, 
men dug down under them until they came to a rock 
bed. On the solid rock, they laid the foundation of the 
great piers, made of massive stones which the current 
could not carry away. 

This work was not only laborious, but also dangerous. 
Several men lost their lives from poisonous gases which 
gathered in the caissons, or from the breaking of ma- 
chinery. But despite all danger and accidents the work 
was pushed on to completion. Mr. James B. Eads was 
the architect who planned the wonderful structure, and 
it is sometimes spoken of as the Eads Bridge. It was 
completed and formally opened on July 4, 1874; and 
until 1890, when the Merchants' Bridge was finished, 
St. Louis had no other bridge across the Mississippi. 



With the return of prosperity came a revival of inter- 
est in education. The State University at Columbia 
was the only State educational institution before the 
war. Soon after peace was restored, Major J. B. 
Merwin, of the American Journal of Education, began 
advocating a State agricultural college, and a school of 
mines. He rallied about him able support, and brought 
such influence to bear on the Legislature, that in 1870 
it established the Agricultural College at Columbia, 
and the School of Mines and Metallurgy at Rolla. 



288 

Professor Joseph Baldwin, an able educator just in 
the prime of life, came from Pennsylvania to Missouri 
about the year 1867. Aided by Professors J. M. Green- 
wood, W. P. Nason, S. M. Pickler, Miss Fluhart, Miss 
Sue Thatcher, and others, he established a private nor- 
mal school at Kirksville, for the purpose of educating 
and training teachers. The venture proved such a suc- 
cess that in 1870 the Legislature established three State 
normal schools, — one at Kirksville, one at Warrens- 
burg, and one at Cape Girardeau, — and also the Lin- 
coln Institute at Jefferson City, for the education of 
colored teachers. The educational system of Missouri 
is to-day the equal of that of any State in the Union. 



Missouri is a remarkable State. Though not ad- 
mitted to the Union till 1820, it now ranks fifth 
in population. The inhabitants to-day number three 
millions ; but this is only a tenth of the population 
which the State is capable of supporting. If Missouri 
were cut off from all the remainder of the world, it has 
natural resources within its own borders sufficient to 
supply thirty million inhabitants with all the necessaries 
and comforts essential to a civilized people. 

Though there have been panics and failures in all 
parts of the world, they have merely checked the pros- 
perity of Missouri. That prosperity has never come to 
a standstill, and to-day no State has a more promising 
future. 



Typography by J. S. Cushing & Co., Norwood, Mass. 










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